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55th Congregs, ) HOUSE OP EEPEESBNTATIVES. S Document 

3d Session. \ \ No. 181. 



EEPOET 



UPON THE 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS 



U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



1877-1898. 



By B. E. FEBN'OA^^, 

FORMERLY CHIEF OF THE DIVISION OF FORESTRY, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



[PEBI'ARED IN ACCORDANCE WITH A PROVISION IN THE ACT JEAKING 

APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

FOR THE FISCAL TEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 1899.] 



WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 
1899. 

D'01 



&' 






MESSAGE. 



To the Senate and House of Representatives: 

In accordance with a provision in the act making appropriations for the Department ot 
Agriculture for the fisciil year ending June 30,>1S99, 1 transmit herewith a report of the Secretary 
of Agriculture "upon the forestry investigations and work of the Department of Agriculture." 

William McKinlbt. 
Executive Mansion, January 27, 1899. 



LETTEE OF TEAl^SMITTAL. 



United States Department of Agriculture, 

Office of the Secretary, 
Washington, J). C, January 24, 1899. 
Mr. President: In the act making appropriations for the Department of Agriculture for the 
fiscal year ending June 30, 1899, under the heading " Forestry investigations," the following 
provision occurs : 

Provided, That the Secretary of Agriculture shall make a special and detailed report at the beginning of the 
next seBsion of Congress upon the forestry investigations and work of the Department of Agriculture, showin" 
the results obtained and the practical utility of the investigations. 

In accordance with the above provision, which is mandatory in its character, I herewith 
submit for transmission to the Congress of the United States "a special and detailed report" 
"upon the forestry investigations and work of the Department of Agriculture, showing the results 
obtained and the practical utility of the investigations." 

The extremely wide scope to be covered by the report, as indicated by the language of the 
provision, has necessitated a voluminous report, and this fact, together with the change in 
the Chief of the Forestry Division, which took place July 1, 1898, will explain why the report 
was not presented at the beginning of the present session of Congress. 

The report was necessarily prepared by the former chief, Dr. B. E, Fernow, now of the 
New York State Coll(?ge of Forestry, and I desire, in submitting it as covering the past work 
of the Division of Forestry of this Department, to call special attention to the fact that since 
the appointment of Mr. Gifford Pinchot, the present Chief, the work of the Division has been 
directed in distinctly different channels, which may be briefly indicated by the following summary 
taken from Mr. Pinchot's annual report for 1898: 

(1) To introduce in practice better methods of handling forest lands of private owners, including both wood 
lots and large areas chietiy held for lumber, and afterwards to spread a knowledge of what has been accomplished; 
(2) to assist the Western farmer to plant better trees in better ways; (3) to reduce the loss from forest fires, the 
reported amount of which reaches a yearly average of not less than $20,000,000; (4) and, if future appropriations 
will permit the necessary investigations, to inform our citizens regarding the extent and value of new opportunities 
for forest enterprises in Alaska, Cuba, and Puerto Rico. These objects can be pursued only so fiir as appropriations 
will permit. The present resources of the division are utterly inadequate to meet the pressing and steadily growing 
demands already made upon it. 

These plans meet with my full approval. 

I have the honor to be, Mr. President, very respectfully, 

James Wilson, 
Secretary of Agriculture. 
3 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS AND WORK OF THE DEPARTMENT 

OF AGRICULTURE. 



REPOET BY DR. B. E. FERNOW. 

New York State College of Forestry, 

Cornell University, 
Ithaca, N. Y., December 1, 1898. 
Hon. James Wilson, 

Secretary of Agriculture. 

Sir: It is with great satisfaction that the writer embraces the opportunity kindly afforded by 
you to prepare, in answer to the inquiry of Congress, a report on the work of the Division of 
Forestry in the United States Department of Agriculture in the past, which is to show the results 
and the practical utility of the investigations of the same. 

Having directed the work of the Division of Forestry for more than twelve years consecu- 
tively, the writer may claim to possess intimate knowledge not only of its work, but of the aims and 
objects, the policy and the reasons for it, which have actuated its administration during the larger 
part of its existence. 

If the appreciation of the public, expressed by letter and by print, can be considered as an 
indication of the value and utility of its work and satisfaction in the existence of the Division, it 
would only be necessary to inspect the files of the Division or the public prints, especially the 
extracts from the journals which represent the interests of forest exploitation and of the lumber 
trade, and are, therefore, most prominently interested in the subject for which the Division stands. 
While twelve years ago these publications had only ridicule and opprobrium for those who advo- 
cated the application of forestry methods in the use of our forest resources, giving them the title 
of "denudatics," under which the Division of Forestry was included, to-day there is no utterance 
of the Division which does not receive respectful hearing and full appreciation and praise in their 
columns, the shorter and even some of the longer publications of the Division being frequently 
reprinted in full. 

It will, however, be more useful, as the provision of Congress calling for this report requires, 
to explain the work of the Division more fully. I propose, therefore, in the following pages to 
treat the subject in three parts: (1) Giving a brief historical sketch of the administrative features 
of the Division, together with the reasons for its establishment; (2) discussing the character of 
the work done, with the reasons for undertaking the precise kind of work which was done; (3) 
giving a resume of the status of the forestry movement in the United States and the relation 
which the Division has had to it; placing in appendixes the more detailed facts and information of 
importance which the Division has collected or secured. 

From this account, then, it is hoped that the value of the work of the Division, the propriety 
of its existence, and not only of its continuance but also of the extension of its work and functions 
in the future may appear. Certain it is that so far the Division has not been properly considered 
and endowed, and its usefulness has been impaired by insufficient appropriations and consequently 
limited functions. 

The time has come when it should not only more vigorously pursue technical investigations, 
but when it should have charge of the public timber lands, and especially the public forest reser- 
vations, which Avill never answer their purpose until controlled by systematic management, such 
as all other civilized nations apply to their forest property. 



6 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

HISTORICAL. 

The establishment of the Division of Forestry can be traced to the action of the American 
Association for the Advancement of Science, which at its annual meeting at Portland in August, 
1873, appointed a committee " to memoi'ialize Congress and the several State legislatures upon 
the importance of iiromoting the cultivation of timber and the preservation of forests and to 
recommend proper legislation for securing these objects." 

A subcommittee of this committee, consisting of Mr. George B. Emerson, a well known 
educator and naturalist, and Dr. F. B. Hough, prepared the memorial ' and furthered its consider- 
ation by the Forty-third Congress, the memorial having been transmitted to the Congress with a 
special message by President Grant and referred to the Committee on Public Lands in both House 
and Senate. Although as a result a bill was favorably reported ^ by the Committee of the House 
Ijroviding for the appointment of a Commissioner of Forestry, similar to the Commissioner of 
Fisheries, no action was taken by the Forty-third Congress, nor did the Forty-fourth Congress act 
on a similar bill introduced by Hon. Mark H. Dunnell, M. C. Instead an amendment was adopted 
to the act making appropriations for the legislative, executive, and judicial expenses of the 
Government for the year ending June 30, 1877, which was approved August 15, 1876, and required 
that the Commissioner of Agriculture "appoint a man of approved attainments and practically 
well acquainted with the methods of statistical inquiry, * * * with the view of ascertaining 
the annual amount of consumption, importation, and exportation of timber and other forest 
products; the probable supply for future wants, the means best adapted to the i^reservation 
and renewal of forests, the influence of forests on climate, and the measures that have been 
successfully applied in foreign countries or that may be deemed applicable in this country for the 
preservation and restoration or planting of forests, and to report upon the same to the Commis- 
sioner of Agriculture, to be by him in a sei^arate report transmitted to Congress." 

Curiously and significantly enough this clause and the appropriation of $2,000 for the purpose 
appears as a part of the provisions for the distribution of seeds. 

In obedience to this law the then Commissioner of Agriculture, the Hon. Frederick Watts, 
appointed, on August 30, 1876, Dr. Franklin B. Hough, of Lowville, Lewis County, N. Y., as an 
agent to prepare such report. Dr. Hough not only having been most instrumental in bringing about 
the legislation leading to his appointment, but also being well known as a writer of local histories 
and gatherer of statistical material. 

This appointment was continued from year to year without further special appropriation by 
Congress; since 1881, however, under a special appropriation as chief of an established administra- 
tive division in the Department of Agriculture.-' Dr. Hough produced three voluminous reports, 
transmitted to and published by Congress in separate volumes in 1877, 1880, and 1882, and compris- 
ing in all 1,586 pages of information on a wide range of subjects. 

The appropriations being extremely limited, special original research was excluded, and Dr. 
Hough being acquainted with the subject as an interested layman only and not as a professional 
forester, these reports, while valuable compilations of existing facts from various sources, natu- 
rally did not contain anj' original matter, except such suggestions as Dr. Hough could make with 
regard to the duties of the Government with reference to the forestry interests of the country 
and especially of the public domain. 

In 1883 Dr. Hough was displaced as chief of the administrative division, although retained as 
an agent under the new chief, Mr. IST. H. Eggleston,from Stock bridge, Mass. During Mr. Eggle- 
ston's incumbency one report was issued in 188-1 — the first published directly from the Department 
of Agriculture — comprising 462 pages. It concerned itself largely with tree-planting interests in 
the prairies and plains; it reported also on the decrease of woodlands in the State of Ohio and the 
forest conditions in some other States; it adduced statistics on the kinds and quantity of railroad 
ties used in the country and discussed the production of maple sugar. In a briefer report (24 pp.) 
embodied in the Report of the Commissioner of Agriculture for 1885 various other questions were 
also touched upon. 

■ See Appendix (copy from Sen. Ex. Doc. 23, first session Forty-third Congress). 
2 Report No. 259, H. E., first session Forty third Congress. 
^See "Readings of appropriations" further on. 



HISTOEICAL. 7 

On March 15, 1886, the writer assumed the position of chief of the Division of Forestry, which 
on July 1, by the act of Congress making provision for the expenditures of the Department for the 
year ending June 30, 1887, approved August 15, 1886, became a permanent statutory part of the 
organization of the Department. 

The writer may be justilied in stating here that he is a forester by profession, having received 
his technical education at a professional school and having been employed in the Prussian State 
Forestry Department. He was able, therefore, to direct the work of the Division with a profes- 
sional knowledge of the requirements of the subject and from the standpoint of the forester. 

His appointment having been preceded by a residence of nearly ten years in this country, 
he had also enjoyed ample opportunity during varied occupation in city and country, and espe- 
cially as secretary of the American Forestry Association since 1883, to become acquainted with 
American conditions, institutions, and requirements, and to fully appreciate climatic, floral, social, 
and economic differences. 

With gradually increased appropriations during the following years, not only was the propa- 
ganda for more rational treatment of our forest resources continued, but in addition, technical and 
original investigations were instituted. 

With the growing interest in the subject, the correspondence with those seeking technical 
advice grew. As a result, besides the printed i:)ublications of the Division there are recorded 
in letter-press books nearly 20,000 pages of matter, largely containing specific advice given to 
coiTespondents during the twelve years of the writer's administration. 

While during the years from 1876 to 1886 the aggregate of appropriations for the investiga- 
tions in forestry amounted to somewhat less than $60,000, the aggregate of expenditures during 
the twelve years following has been, in round numbers, $230,000, excluding an appropriation of 
$17,000 for the artificial production of rain, which being not germane to the work of the Division 
and not expentlcd under its direction, is not properly chargeable to it. 

The printed iiitoriiiatiou issued during this time, besides some unpublished manuscripts, com- 
prises about 6,000 pages. It is published in four different forms, namely: annual reports contained 
in the reports of the Secretary of Agriculture and in the Yearbook of the Department of Agricul- 
tiup bulletins, ill which more exhaustive and nioieor less complete investigations of any one 
subject are recorded; circulars of information, in which in tbrmation that could be treated more 
briefly or preliminary announcements of results in someone line of investigation are communi- 
cated; reports to Congress, in response to calls for special information. A list of the publications 
of the Division is appended. 

It can be claimed that at least one-half of the amount of the printed matter is original, i. e., 
recording results of investigations, being of an independent character and containing new truths, 
while for the other half originality of form or presentation of statement can at least be claimed, 
being compilations of facts which can not be found elsewhere in the same shape. 

This means that if the money value of the manuscript pages of advice be added to that of the 
printed pages at a fair ratio, the information has been secured during the last period at an average 
price of less than $21 per page, which is hardly a fair charge for expert writing; while during the 
preceding period of nonprofessional writing the cost was about $30 per page. And if only the 
truly original information covering new additions to our knowledge is included, it has cost less 
thto $75 per page. As to its money value to the people, which is hardly capable of expression in 
dollars and cents, some calculations will be found in later pages of this report when discussing tlie 
character of the work. From these it will api^ear that enough new information has been secured 
through the Division of a kind which can be translated into money through savings in useful forest 
materials amounting to millions of dollars and paying fifty fold for the expenditures. 

The indirect value, however, in awakening an interest and proper conception of the subject, 
which can not be expressed in money, is infinitely greater and more important. 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
Appropriations, Division of Forestry, 1S77 to 1897. 



Year. 


Salaries, 
statutory. 


InveslieatiOD 
funds. 


Total appro- 
prlatiou. 


Unexpended 
balances. 








a.t2,000.00 
a 2, 500. 00 
» 2. 600. 00 
o 2, 500.00 
5,000.00 
5, 000. 00 
10, 000. 00 
10, 000. 00 
10, 000. 00 
10. 000. 00 










































.59 














1.70 








12.64 


1886 






163. 17 
















60, 000. 00 


2, 683. 60 












$2. OOU. 00 
2, 000. 00 
2, 000. 00 
2. 000. 00 
7. 820. 00 
7. 820. 00 
7, 820. 00 

7, 820. 00 

8, 320. 00 
8, .')20. 00 
8, 520. 00 
8, 520. 00 


$8, 000. 00 

8,000 OQ 

8, 000. 00 

8,000.00 

b 10, 000. 00 

c 15, 056. 85 

12, 000. 00 

c 20, 000. 00 

20, (100. 00 

25, 000. 00 

20, OOO. 00 

20, 000. 00 


10, 000. 00 

10,000.00 

10, 000. 00 

10, 000. 00 

b 17, 820. 00 

c 22, 876. 85 

19. 820. 00 

c27,820.00 

28, 320, 00 

33, 520. 00 

28, 520. 00 

28, 520. 00 






3.90 




.97 








214.01 








66.61 




4.04 




91,77 




6, 601. S3 




487. 12 




275. 67 






T t I d "nl M2 pir=il 


73, 160. 00 


174, 056. 85 


247, 216. 85 









a Not especially appropriated, hwt disbnrsed from otlier funds for forestry investigations. 

b Increase for experiments in the production of rainfall. 

c Increase for investigations in timber physics, although not .specially so expressed in appropriation clause until following years. 

These appropriations represent not much over 1 per cent of the appropriations for the entire 
Department of Agriculture during the same years, a ridiculously small and disproportionate 
amount when the relative magnitude of the agricultural and the forestry interests are considered. 



REASONS FOR CREATING A DIVISION OF FORESTRY. 

The reason for establishing a Government agency where one of the largest interests in the 
country, the forestry interest, should find consideration and at least partial representation seems 
obvious if we acknowledge merely the educational function of government. This we have 
Ijractically acknowledged as legitimate in the maintenance of the Department of Agriculture 
itself and of schools of various descriptions, experimental stations, etc. There would seem to be 
no need for other reasons than the fact that the absence of the art of forestry, which is practiced 
by other civilized nations, calls for the exercise of this educational function. But this interest 
has more need for governmental consideration than many others for reasons which may need 
fuller discussion. 

They are (1) the magnitude of the manufacturing interests which rely upon the exploitation 
and on the continuance of the forest resources; (2) the widespread influence which forest areas, 
their presence or absence, and their condition have upon water flow, upon soil and climate, hence 
influencing navigation, damage by floods, and changes in agricultural conditions, thereby impart- 
ing to the forest cover a particular communal interest; (3) the peculiar technical and economic 
aspects of the art of forestry which, dealing with long time periods, does not readily recommend 
itself to private enterprise and needs the fostering care of the government to guard the communal 
interest in the forest cover. 

The magnitude of the mere industrial and commercial interests which are subserved by forest 
growth is best expressed by a comparison with other industries, as is done in the subjoined table, 
from which it appears that the aggregate value of products of the industries relying for their 
existence on wood as raw material amounts to at least two billion dollars, second only in value to 
that of agricultural products. In capital and labor employed and in wages paid and value of 
product the forest industries and wood-manufacturing establishments outrank by far any other 
group of industries which may rationally be considered together. Even if the entire group of 
industries relying upon mineral products is considered together, it falls in value of product at 
least 25 per cent below that of the wood j^roducts of the country. 



REASONS FOR CREATING A DIVISION OF FORESTRY. 



Leading industries compared. 
[Data from Censiis 1890, in round nxonbers.] 



Agriculture i...>... 

Forest products, total 

Forest industries, enumerated 

Forest products, notenumeriited (estimated) . 

Manufactures using wood (see tnble below) .. 
Forest products and wood manufactures, total ... 
Mineral products, total 

Coal 

Gold and silver 

Iron and steel 

Manufactures of iron and steel 

Leather - 

Leather nianufacturea 

"Woolen manufactures 

Cotton manufactures 



lu tlie following table the industries using wood in part have been classified according to an 
estimated per cent of wood values entering into the finished product, and a proportionate allowance 
has been made in capital, number, wages of employees, and raw material. Since probably more 
labor is employed in shaping wood than metals, the figures relating to that i)ortiou are probably 
under the truth. 

Foreat iudustries and manufactures usintj ivood. 



Articles. 


Capital. 


Employees. 


Wages. 


Eaw 
material. 


Value 
of product. 


Forest induatries ennmerated : 


Thousands. 

$496, 340 

el, 541 

4,063 


Hundreds. 

2,862 

461 

153 


Thousands, 

$87, 784 

11,354 

2, 933 


Thousands. 

$231, 556 

11, 007 

3,506 


Thousands. 
$403, 668 




34, 290 




8,077 








561, 943 


3,477 


102, 071 


245, 109 


446. 034 






Manufactures practically all wnod : 


3,374 

13,018 

13, 028 

81.543 

17, 817 

66, 394 

1,300 

907 

120, 271 

1, 941 

7,826 

2,712 

7,455 

333 


55 

140 

109 

1, 409 

247 

639 

18 

8 

869 

18 

84 

31 

28 

3 


2,134 

6,477 

5,208 

94,524 

11, 665 

.34,471 

772 

573 

48, 970 

344 

4,267 

1,237 

1,229 

155 


3,567 

14,245 

l,:i88 

137, 847 

2,637 

38, 796 

1,187 

331 

104, 927 

935 

3,947 

1,499 

2,005 

214 


7,092 




25, 513 




16, 262 




281, 195 




38, 618 




94, 871 




2, 402 




1, 2.39 


PlnniTur mill urn In 1Q 






2,194 




10, 940 




3,698 




4,628 


Wood carpet 


612 


Total 


337, 908 


3,650 


212, 027 


331, 523 


072, 750 


Manufactures in which wood reiirescnts about 50 per cent of the raw 
materials: a 

Total 

Wood percentage . . 


169, 983 
89, 991 


1,356 
678 


714, 460 
35,730 


114,383 
57,192 


229, 408 
114. 704 


Manufactures in wliioli wood represents about :i^ per cent: h 


321, 059 
107, 619 


2,143 
714 


123,i)88 
41, 196 


148, 578 
49, 526 


318,218 




106,072 






Mauiifactnres in which wood represunts about 10 per cent : c 


76, 841 
7,684 


915 
92 


46, 854 
4,885 


49, 291 
4,929 


131, 820 




13, 182 






Manufactures of wood : 


543, 402 


5, 134 


293, 638 


443, 170 


906, 708 







a Includes carriages nnd wagon factory iji-oduut, cluldren's carriages and sleds, steam and street cars, coffins and burial caskets, chairs, 
wheelbarrows, sewing-machine cases, artificial limbs, and refrigeratoi's, and shipbuilding. 

b Includes agricultural implements, billiard tables, railroad and street car repairs, furniture repairs, washing machines and wringers, 
organs and pianos. 

c 1 ui liules blacksmithing and wbeelwrighting, bridges, brooms and brushes, gunpowder, artist's materials, windmills, toys and games, 
sportJUg goods, lead pencils, pipes and pumps. 

While these values are produced by the mere exploitation of the natural resource and their 
conversion into useful articles, it has been believed, predicted, and feared that, under the treatment 
which this resource receives at present, the natural sui^plies would sooner or later give out, and 
without attention to regrowth this large line of industries wouM find it difficult to secure the 
raw material and would thus be crippled, and hence the work of the Division was called for, in the 
first place, to investigate the truth of this assertion. 



10 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

While by the methods and on the basis of the census it is possible to arrive at an approximate 
statement of the consumption, it is much more diiScult to arrive at a statement of the quantity 
growiug- in the virgin forest, especially since with the reduction of supplies the method of use 
changes, and what was not marketable before becomes available. 

The really valuable portion of the natural forest growth forms only a fraction of the whole 
wood growth, and the amounts of such valuable material per acre vary within exceedingly wide 
limits, from nothing at all to the 200,000 feet B. M. or more per acre occasionally to be found in the 
Pacific coast forests. 

The acreage, therefore, under forest cover gives no idea of the available supplies; the condition 
of this cover is the imi)ortant factor. 

There was never at any time sufficient money appropriated to the Division to venture even on 
a partial investigation of this condition, except in one case, when circumstances made it possible 
to ascertain with tolerable precision the forest conditions of Wisconsin. l!fothing less than a 
thoroughly organized canvass, which might cost $250,000 to $300,000, would promise any reliable, 
practically exhaustive information. 

In the absence of such a canvass a very rough and probably very liberal estimate of the amount 
of the timber standing in the various regions of the country ready for the ax would give the 
following figures: 

FEET B.M. 

Southern States 700,000,000,000 

Northern States .500,000,000,000 

Pacific coast 1,000,000,000,000 

Rocky Mountains 100, 000, 000, 000 

Total 2,300,000,000,000 . 

In comparison with the su])ply on hand we must place the total annual cut of material requir- 
ing bolt or log size, which is estimated at about 40,000,000,000 feet B. M., more or less. That is to 
say, there is at best not sixty years' supply in sight, a shorter time than it takes to gTow a tree 
suitable for milling purj^oses. 

In this cut the various regions participate in about the following proportions: 

FEET B. M. 

New England and North Atlantic States 6,000,000.000 

Central States 5,000,000,000 

Lake Region 13, 000, 000, 000 

Southern States 10,000,000,000 

Pacific States 4,000,000,000 

Miscellaneous 2, 000, 000, 000 

Segregating the cut by kinds, we may make the following divisions: 

White pine 12,000,000,000 

Spruce and fir 5,000,000,000 

Hemlock 4,000,000,000 

Longleaf pine 4, 000, 000, 000 

Shortleaf and loblolly pines ..- 3,000,000,000 

Cypress 500,(100,000 

Redwood 500,000,000 

All other conifers 1,000,000,000 

Total conifers 30,000,000,000 

Oak 3,000,000,000 

Another hardwoods 7,000,000,000 

Total 40,000,000,000 

From this statement it appears that three-fourths of our consumption is of coniferous 
material. It is, therefore, of interest to know more precisely how the supply of this most 
important portion of our requirements stands. 

In reply to a resolution of the Senate dated April 14, 1897, the writer canvassed the 
probabilities in this direction, at least for the Eastern States. The results are still less assuring 
than the above statement of total supply and consumption; for this canvass brings the available 



REASONS FOR CREATING A DIVISION OF FORESTRY. 



11 



coniferous supply in the States east of the Eocky Mouotains to 400,000,000,000 feet, B. M., with 
which to satisfy a yearly demand of about 30,000,000,000 feet, B. M.' 

"While these figures, referring to log material, represent that portion of the forest growth 
which is the most valuable and has taken the longest time to grow, there is, besides the 
consumption for fuel, an immense amount wasted by fire, improper use, necessary and unnecessary 
waste. 

The consumption of fuel to the extent of probably 180,000,000 cords, of fence material, etc., 
the waste in the woods and at the mills and loss by fire, bring the total annual wood consumption 
ot the United States easily to 25,000,000,000 cubic feet, or since the area under wood has been 
ascertained to be about 500,000,000 acres, the consumption is at the rate of 50 cubic feet per acre, 
a figure nearly corresponding to the yield per acre realized as annual growth in the well kept 
forests of Prussia, where the reproduction is secured by skillful management. 

The consumption, now 350 cubic feet per capita, increases from decade to decade in greater 
proportion than the population ; and new industries, like the wood pulp industry, add constantly 

to the demand. 

Estimates of value of forest products used in 1S60, 1S70, and ISSO. 

[Including all raw, partially manufactnred, wholly manufactured wood products, fuel, and naval stores ; estimated upon tlie basis of census 

figures, and other sources of information.] 



Articles. 


1860. 


1870. 


1880. 


1890. 




$155, OGO, 000 

45, 000, 000 

50, 000, 000 

6, 000, 000 

135,000,000 


$340, 000, 000 
52, 000, 000 

100, 000, 000 
14, 000, 000 

210, 000, 000 


$400, 000, 000 
55, 000, OOO 

110,000,000 
30, 000, 000 

323, 000, 000 


$438, 000, 000 










40, 000, 000 


Fuel ° 








a 391, 000, 000 


716, 000, 000 


923, 000, 000 


1, 028, 000. 000 





a Probably 25 per cent underestimate. 

This would show an increase of over 30 per cent in our consumption from decade to decade. 

Other statistics bearing on this phase of the subject and a fuller discussion are to be found in 
the Appendix. 

From these statements, the compilation of which has become possible through the existence 
of the Division of Forestry, even if they were overdrawn to a considerable extent, it would appear 
that the first reason for the existence of a Government agency to look after the forestry interests 
is well founded. 

Some ignorant people — ignorant both as to the requirements of the wood industries and as to 
the condition and character of our forest resources — have claimed that the natural growth of 
young trees, without any attention, following the operations of the lumbermen, would suffice to 
replace that which is removed and would continue to furnish the required material. 

The observant student, not to speak of the professional forester, can readily see that culling 
the valuable kinds and leaving the inferior tree weeds in possession of the soil prevents in many 
cases any reproduction of the valuable siDecies. 

In other cases where the production of valuable kinds does take place, as, for instance, with 
the Southern pines, where the young growth is not killed by fires, the develoi^ment is so unsatis- 
factory that where with proper attention a new crop might be available for the saw in seventy 
to one hundred years, twice the time will be required to make clear lumber of good quality. In 
most cases recurring fires retard this natural regrowth still further or prevent it altogether. 

There is at least one State, the State of Wisconsin, for which it became practicable for the 
Division of Forestry to secure more accurate data as to the conditions of the forest resources and 
as to the results of the rough exploitation to which it is subjected in the absence of forestry 
methods. 

This survey is i^ublished in Bulletin No. IG of the Division. The conditions are typical of a 
large part of our lumbering regions, and a brief resume will accentuate the need of attention on 
the part of the Government : 

The State of Wisconsin, with a population of about 2,000,000, a taxable property of about $600,000,000, has a 
home consumption of over 600,000,000 feet B. M. of lumber, besides enormous quantities of other wood material, 

' See Senate Doc. No. 40, first session Fifty-fifth Congress, and fuller discussion in Appendix. 



12 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

■which, if imported, would cost the State over $25,000,000. Of its northern half, a land surface of over 18,000,000 
acres, only 7 per cent is cultivated, the rest forming one continuous body of forest and waste land. From this area 
there have been cut during the last sixty years more than 85,000,000,000 feet B. M. of pine lumber alone, and the 
annual cut daring the past ten years exceeded on the average 3,000,000,000 feet per year. 

The lumber industries exploiting this resource represented in 1890 one-sixth of the total taxable property in 
the State, paid to over 55,000 men the sum of over $15,000,000 in wages, and the value of their products was equal 
to more than one-third the entire output of agriculture in the State. Of the original stand of about 130,000,000,000 
feet of pine about 17,000,000,000 feet are left, besides about 12,000,000,000 feet of hemlock and 16,000,000,000 feet of 
hard woods. The annual growth, which at present amounts to about 900,000,000 feet and of which only 250,000,000 
feet is marketable pioe and over 500,000,000 feet hard woods, is largely balanced by natural decay of the old, over- 
ripe timber. In almost every town of this region logging has been carried on and over 8,000,000 of the 17,000,000 
acres are "cut-over" lauds, largely burned over and waste. It would not be overstating it to say that 4,000,000 
acres of these cut-over lauds are for the present and must be for a loug time in the future a desert, useless for any 
purpose. The wooded area proper is steadily being reduced by logging and to a smaller extent by clearing. 

At present nothing is done cither to protect or restock the denuded cut-over lands, of which fully 80 per cent 
are now unproductive waste land, and probably will remain so for a long time. This policy causes a continuous and 
ever-growing loss to the Commonwealth, amounting at present to about 800,000,000 feet per year of useful and much- 
needed material, besides gradually but surely driviug from the State the industries which have been most conspicu- 
ous in its development, depriving a cold country of a valuable factor in its climatic conditions, and affecting 
detrimentally the ch.axaeter of the main drainage channels of the State. 

The second reason for the establishment of the Division of Forestry is based on a considera- 
tion of the broad interest which attaches to the forest cover on account of its influence on water- 
flow, soil and climatic conditions, and is of even more moment than the question of material 
supplies. 

In spite of the facts, which have become clear to most other civilized nations, namely, that a 
forest cover on the slopes of mountains prevents erosion and equalizes waterflow, reduces danger 
from floods, and decreases extremes in high and low water stages, in spite of these well known 
observations, tlie Government of the United States has persisted in allowing its vast public timber 
domain on the western mountain ranges to be destroyed by Are and otherwise, and spends millions 
of dollars annually in river and harbor bills to dig out the eroded farms, which have been swept 
into the river for lack of the protection of the soil at head waters and along shores. 

Untold misery and poverty is inflicted upon the settlers in the lower valleys by this jnatten- 
tiou. Instead of curing the evil by rational forest management, recourse is had to river improve- 
ments which can only be temporary, and are excessively expensive. Even the celebrated 
inaugurator of the jetty system. Captain Eads, came Anally to the conclusion that the cure of the 
Mississippi floods was to be applied to the head waters and upper river shores rather than at the 
mouth of the river. 

The Division has not failed to bring together all the available information, both of experience 
and experiment, which goes to conflrm the relation of forest cover to waterflow, soil, and climate, 
presenting it in various reports, a final and full discussion of the subject being contained in 
Bulletin No. 7, Division of Forestry. 

Since this relation, the influence of forests on surrounding conditions, is rightly claimed to 
impose upon the Government the duty to protect and preser.e the forest cover on mountain 
slopes, a resume of the present status of this question of forest influences is appended to this 
report. 

The knowledge of the amelioration of climatic conditions which it is possible to secure by tree 
growth has induced the Federal Government to encourage the growing of groves on the forestless 
plains and prairies under the so-called timber culture act. If that act had been framed with more 
knowledge of the requirements of tree growth, in other words, if the Division of Forestry, with 
expert advice, had been in existence and had been called upon to frame the regulations, the law 
would have proved less of a failure than it has; less waste of energy and less disappointment 
would have been the share of tiie deluded settlers who were trying to satisfy the requirements of 
the law. It is well known that the law was abolished owing to the unsatisfactory results. 

Nevertheless, tree planting in the forestless regions for the sake of ameliorating climatic condi- 
tions is and will be one of the occupations of the settlers of those regions. To assist these efforts 
has also been one of the objects for which the Division was established. 

The third reason for the establi-shnient of a Government agency to study and report on 
forestry was that this art was until that time entirely unknown in this country; oven the very 



CHARACTER OF THE WORK OF THE DIVISION. 13 

word was absent from our dictiouaries. While the necessity for its application for the reasons 
stated was believed to exist, its methods were absolutely unknown. Not only was it not practiced 
anywhere in this country, but where such an art was known to exist, its reiiuirements being 
misuuderstood, forest owners were unwilling to apply it, believing it unnecessary and unprofitable. 

To enlighten these skeptics as to the methods of rational forest management and as to its 
desirability was to be the office of the Division of Forestry. The Division, then, was to be a bureau 
of information and investigation to report on all questions pertaining to the subject with a view 
of enlightening the people and inducing them to apply the teachings of forestry. 

It was by statute limited in its functions, which were to be educational, not administrative or 
executive. Moreover, for most of the time, the appropriations were too scanty to permit of any 
very comj)reheusive inquiries or experiments. 

The character of its functions is j)erhaps best learned from the wording of the acts, changing 
from time to time, in which Congress made appropriations for the Division. 

READING OF APPROPRIATION CLAUSES FOR REPORTS ON FORESTRY AND DIVISION OF FORESTRY. 

^577. — For purchase and distribution of new and valuable seeds' and plants, sixty thousand dollars : Provided, 
That two thousand dollars of the above amount shall be expended by the Commissioner of Agriculture as com- 
pensation to some man of approved attainments, who is practically well acquainted with methods of statistical 
inquiry and who has evinced an intimate acquaintance with questious relating to the national wants in regard to 
timber, to prosecute investigations and inquiries with the view of ascertaining the annual amount of consumption, 
importation, and exportation of timber and other forest products, the probable sujiply for future wants, the nieaus 
best adapted to their preservation and renewal, the influence of forests upon climate, aud the measures that have 
been successfully applied in foreign countries or that may be deemed applicable in this country for the preservation 
and restoration or planting of forests; and to report upon the same to the Commissioner of Agriculture, to be hy 
him in a separate report transmitted to Congress. For expense of putting up the same, for labor, bagging paper, 
twine, gum, and other necessary materials, five thousand dollars; in all, sixty-tive thousand dollars. — (From legisla- 
tive, executive, and judicial appropriation bill for fiscal year ending .June ,30, 1877, approved August 15, 1876. Third 
paragraph of section making appropriation for Department of Agriculture. First session. Forty-fourth Congress.) 

18.17. — For compensation of chief of Forestry Division, two thousand dollar.s; for the purpose of enabling the 
Commissioner of Agriculture to experiment and to continue an investigation and report upoii the subject of forestry, 
and the collection and distribution of valuable economic forest-tree seeds and plants, eight thousand dollars; in all, 
ten thousand dollars. — (Act making appropriation for Department of Agriculture for the liscal year ending June 30, 
1887, and for other purposes, approved June 30, 1886.) 

1S90. Division of Forestry. — For the purpose of enabling the Secretary of Agriculture to experiment and continue 
an investigation and report upon the subject of forestry, and for traveling and other necessary expenses in the 
investigation and the collection and distribution of valuable economic forest-tree seeds and plants. 

lS9i. Ucport on Forestry. — Division of Forestry : For the purpose of enabling the Secretary of Agriculture to 
experiment aud continue an investigation and report upon the subject of forestry aud for experiments in the pro- 
duction of rainfall, and for traveling aud other necessary expenses in the investigation aud the collection and dis- 
tribution of valuable economic forest-tree seeds and plants. 

189S. Division of Forestry, — For the purpose of enabling the Secretary of Agriculture to experiment and continue 
an investigation and report upon the subject of forestry, and for traveling aud other necessary expenses in the 
investigation and the collection of valuable economic forest-tree seeds and plants. 

1S9.5. Division of Forestry. — For the purpose of enabling the Secretary of Agriculture to experiment and continue 
an investigation and report upon the subject of forestry and timbers, and for traveling and other necessary exjienses 
in the investigation and the collection and distribution of valuable economic forest-tree seeds and plants. 

189S. Division of Forestry, — For the purpose of enabling the Secretary of Agriculture to experiment and continue 
an investigation and rejiort upon the subject of forestry and timbers, and for traveling and other necessary expenses 
in the investigation and collection and distribution of valuable economic forest-tree seeds and jjlants : Provided, 
That the Secretary of Agriculture shall make a special and detailed report at the beginning of the next session of 
Congress uj)on the forestry investigations and work of the Division of Forestry, showing the results and the 
practical utility of the investigations. 

CHARACTER OF THE WORK OP THE DIVISION. 

Having come to the conclusion that a Division of Forestry without forests, i. e., without con- 
trol of forest property, even for experimental purposes, can act simply as a bureau of information 
and advice, the following considerations naturally occur: The object of establishing such a bureau 
was undoubtedly to influence a reform movement in the treatment of our forest resources, and 
hence the information furnished should be of such a nature as to induce the owner of timber lands 
and the consumer of forest products to change their ways. Undoubtedly the Government also 



14 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS IT. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

desired iuformation upou which to be able to direct its action with regard to its own timber lands 
as well as to the forestry interests in general. 

In proposing to furnish information toward these ends, three questions then occur : 

(1) Who wants the iuformation, and for what x)urpose! 

(2) What is the nature of the iuformation wanted? 

(3) How is the information to be obtained? 

In the case of inquiry by correspondents answer to these questions is at once supplied. It is 
only when the inauguration of original investigation is contemplated that these considerations 
are submitted to the discretion and judgment of the investigator. Nevertheless the thousands of 
letters asking for information, to which the 20,000 pages of letterpress mentioned before corre- 
spond, naturally indicate the character of the information most wanted, and admit of a classifica- 
tion both of inquirers and inquiries. 

From the many letters of inquiry on iile in the Division of Forestry it will at once appear 
that there are three classes seeking information: 

(1) The consumers of forest products who need information which will aid them in an econom- 
ical and advantageous use of the same. 

(2) The producers of forest products, who, if owners of natural wood lands, need information 
in regard to the best methods of utilizing them most advantageously and securing reproduction, 
or if forest planters, in regard to the best methods of starting and cultivating a timber crop. 

(3) The general public, the economist, the legislator, the Government, all desire the informa- 
tion which will allow them to appreciate the true position of forests and forestry in the economic 
life of the nation, and which is to serve also as a basis for Government action with reference to 
this subject and the problems connected with it. 

This last class of inquirers was at first the largest, but soon, when it became known that 
specific and trustworthy information could be obtained, the first class, namely, the consumers of 
forest products, lumbermen, engineers, architects, builders, railway companies, became the more 
frequent, while the third class, the forest producers, remained in the minority, the tree-planting 
interests alone being prominent. 

This was natural. The incentive to apply the art of forestry to wood lands by private indi- 
viduals can only (or with rare exceptions) come from a desire to "make it pay." Whether the 
application of skill can be made to pay, or whether rough exploitation of the natural resource 
pays better, depends upon economic conditions, over which neither the owner nor the Government, 
nor its poor agency, the Division of Forestry, has any control. Only one condition could make the 
application of forestry pay, namely, the entire or partial reduction of virgin supplies. As long as 
the competition of virgin supplies, on the production of which no skill, no time, no money has been 
expended, must be feared, it remained questionable whether the application of skill, of time, and 
money could secure desirable financial results. 

The writer, therefore, at the time when he commenced his labors, soon perceived that there 
was not much hope for a change of methods in the cutting of our forest areas, which would, for 
natural reasons, go on in tlie same manner until necessity forced a change. 

On the other hand, it was much more likely that a more rational and economical use of the 
material, which the logger would continue to cut wastefully, could be brought about among wood 
consumers, hence instruction as to the properties and working qualities of our woods and their 
most satisfactory application, a knowledge of which was extremely deficient and the cause of much 
wastefulness, appeared to offer the most practical field of work, and the best means of securing 
the husbanding of our forest supplies while preparing for the application of forestry. 

ECONOMY IN THE USE OF FOREST PRODUCTS. 

This position, namely, that economy in the use of wood materials could be more readily secured 
than change in the methods of exploiting the natural supplies, gains additional support when we 
realize that the per capita consumption of wood in the United States, about 350 cubic feet annu- 
ally, is from ten to twenty times larger than that of Germany and Great Britain. The margin, 
therefore, within which economy could be practiced is enormous. 

The first and foi-emost effort of the division was therefore directed toward getting into com- 
municatiou with the large wood consumers. 



ECONOMY IN THE USE OF FOREST PRODUCTS. 15 

One of the first circulars directed to railroad managers called attention to tlie fact that the 
chestnut oak, the bark of which is peeled for tanning purposes, the logs being formerly left to rot 
in the woods in many places, is as good for railroad ties as the white oak. There is evidence on 
file that this information was promptly utilized by various companies who had hitherto rejected 
this wood from misconception as to its value. 

The first bulletin, issued within less than a year from the writer's assuming direction, pre- 
sented a comprehensive discussion of the relation of railroads to forest supplies, showing the 
enormous consumption, exj)osing some mistaken notions which have led to wasteful uses, and 
describing in detail methods of lengthening the life of railroad ties. This bulletin undoubtedly 
stimulated the use of preservative processes, which are now much more generally applied by rail- 
road companies in the construction of their roadbeds and renewal of ties. 

These first relations with railroad managers as inteUigeut and influential wood consumers 
were continued by the publication of three later bulletins, in 1889, 1890, and 1894, in which, 
besides further economies iu the use of wood for railroad ties, the question of substituting metal 
for such ties was fully discussed. 

It may be asserted that there is no other publication in the world which discusses this impor- 
tant question so exhaustively and with so much technical detail. 

The canvass to ascertain the extent to which metal railroad ties were used revealed the sur- 
prising fact that, instead of being a mere experiment, over 30,000 miles of metal railroad track was 
actually iu operation in various j)arts of the world. 

The reports of the managers of these tracks showed beyond question that with the proper 
pattern tlie metal tie was not only safer and more efficient and satisfactory in every respect, but 
also much more economical than the wooden tie, being not only longer lived, but also requiring 
less labor to keep the track in order. If this showing has not produced a corresponding response 
in our country toward changing to metal, it is due to the fact that wood can still be had too 
cheaply, and that our railroad properties are still managed in most cases as speculative proiierties 
rather than as permanent investments, hence economy in first cost of construction is more con- 
sidered than permanency. 

Soon, however, with the increase iu price of wood as we emerge from the pioneering stage 
to one of a more settled policy, the iiiforuiation contained in these bulletins will become invalu- 
able to railroad managers, as it will save them from unnecessary experimenting. Even now the 
economies suggested in the use of wood ties are beginning to be practiced more extensively. This 
subject is deemed to be of such importance that a brief resume of its present status, prepared by 
the original investigator. Mi*. E. E. Eussell Tratman, C. E., is subjoined to this report. 

To an even larger extent than in railroad construction wood is used iu civil engineering and 
architecture. Wood to the value of $280,000,000, iu i-ouud numbers, representing more than one- 
half of all the log size material used, enters into various structures. 

In the use of wood for these purjioses there was found to exist eveu greater ignorance, and 
consequently greater waste, than in the use for wood manufactures. Hence, as soon as 
appropriations could be secured from Congress, a thoroughly comprehensive investigation of our 
American timbers, their characteristics and properties, their strength and usefulness for various 
purposes, was instituted. 

It was found that even our knowledge of the properties of wood in general was so deficient 
that an investigation into the general laws of its behavior, physically and mechanically, became 
necessary. 

This comprehensive investigation into what has come to be known by the name of timber 
physics has proved to be the most important original work which the Division has undertaken. 

So well does this investigation seem to have been planned, and so important does it appear to 
be, not only to the wood consumer, but to the forester, that a German reviewer, the well-known 
author in forestry literature, Dr. Schwappach, himself a recognized authority in forestry matters, 
and specially engaged in similar investigations, used the following language regarding it, as quoted 
in the report of the Secretary of Agriculture for 1893, page 32 : 

This plan of -work is as remarkable for its scope as for its consistent pnrsnit of an eminently practical result. 
Although Germany has accomplished a great deal in some directions in this field of investigation, especially as regards 
the laws of growth and wood structure, we are yet far from having such a comprehensive and indispensable kuowl- 



16 FOKESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

edge even of our most important timbers as is needful. We must admit, with a certain sense of humiliation, that 
the Aniericans show us what we i eallj' ought to know and that they have already by far surpassed us in the elahorate 
organization for these investigations. 

And tlie Secretary himself adds: "If in less than a decade Americans have in a forestry 
specialty surpassed Germany, why can not we a generation hence rejoice in the most efficient 
forestry system of the world ?" 

If any words of interest and appreciation of this work from home sources are wanted, they can 
be found in the technical journals of the lumber trade, of engineering, of architecture, of carriage 
building, and of all branches of wood working, as well as in the large number of letters on file in 
the Division, the gist of a few of which are jtriuted in Bulletin 6, and, furthermore, in a series of 
resolutions passed by various societies of engineers and architects and other bodies, addressed to 
the Secretary of Agriculture and to Congress, asking for a continuance of and better support for 
this work. Nevertheless, in 1896, in spite of the protestations of the writer, this line of work was 
ordered discontinued as "not germane to the subject of the Division." 

It should not be overlooked that the increase in the appropriations for the Division, which 
dates from the year 1892, was made specifically for this investigation, and was continued impliedly 
for the same purpose. 

While the full value of such extended investigation is only apparent after being long contin- 
ued, and when the bearing of all data and facts collected can be fully recognized, the following 
tangible results, immediately apj)licable in actual practice, can be pointed out as testifying to the 
value of the work for which it was instituted, namely, the more economical use of our forest 
resources. 

The i3ublication of the results of the first iuvestig'ation brought about the removal of the long- 
standing prejudice against the value of timber of Longleaf pine, which had been bled or tapped 
for turpentine. Hitherto specifications by architects and engineers were usually made so as to 
exclude bled timber, and although in general such specifications were ignored by those who fur- 
nished the material, some of the largest consumers, such as the railway companias of the South, 
effectively discriminated against such material, and much litigation and disappointment was the 
result. 

By bringing out the truth in the matter not only was the industry of turpentine production 
exonerated from the charge of bad economy, but a value, Avhich has been variously figured at 
from $2,000,000 to $4,000,000 annually, was added to the Southern pineries by the assurance that 
the bled material could be safely used. 

The Division of I'orestry was the first to establish reliable values as to the strength of our 
most important lumber trees for the use of engineers, who hitherto had to rely upon very doubtful 
values derived from unsatisfactory tests made on European species, or else on a few 'insufficient 
tests of our own species. 

So great was the confidence in the methods pursued by the Division that its results were 
immediately embodied into the standard manuals of engineering, as, for instance, in Trautwiue's 
Engineering Pocketbook, the companion and reference book of every American engineer. 

The fact that Longleaf pine is from 20 to 25 per cent stronger than heretofore believed, 
renders it possible, to effect a saving of fully $6,000,000 worth of this wood per annum if applied 
to all of this material used. A similar factor of economy might have been established for other 
woods which have been investigated. The fact established by the Division, that seasoned 
material is stronger by 50 to 75 per cent than fresh timber, added a very considerable opportunity 
for saving in the design and specifications of structures under cover. 

" The capital invested in timber structures is greatly in excess, probably more than two or 
three times as much as that invested in structures of iron and steel. Every piece in these latter 
structures is thoroughly inspected, both chemically and physically, and is carefully designed to 
carry the imposed load. Timber structures, on the other hand, have been designed according to 
the general principle that the Lord takes care of His own, as the great number of fatalities result- 
ing from failure of these structures will attest." By furnishing reliable test data, based on a large 
series of tests, not only economy in the use of our forest resources, but a saving of life and prop- 
erty, could be effected. By furnishing the necessary data, now largely absent, upon which to base 
the inspection and specifications for wood material, the factor of safety could be placed on a proper 
basis. These objects have been in view in this series of investigations. 



HILVICULTUKE AND FOREST ECONOMY. 17 

Finally the importaat discovery of the relation between the strength in compression and in 
cross breaking, the crowning result of this short-lived investigation, is of vast imj)ortance, and 
will not only put the designing of beams upon a surer footing, but save much useless wood testing 
in the future. Whether this work be considered germane to a division of forestry or not, its 
results will be held by future engineers and wood consumers, as well as foresters, as sufiBcient 
testimony of the usefulness of the division. 

Since these investigations are now probably brought to an end as far as Government agency 
is concerned, it has been thought desirable to give a fuller resume of their results in the appendix, 
which has been prepared by Prof. Filibert Eoth, who was finally in special charge of the 
Investigations. 

I may only add that Bulletin l^o. 10, Timber, a Discussion of the Characteristics and Proi^er- 
ties of Wood, prepared by Mr. Eoth, which has been translated into French, is the only publication 
containing this kind of information, with special reference to our American woods. 

Besides these more general considerations of the requirements of wood consumption, other 
more sjiecial classes also received attention, as the wood pulp, the naval store, the mining industry, 
and the charcoal iron industry. Two reports, still in manuscript, designed to assist operators in 
these last two lines, are to be published soon. 

While then the information furnished to the wood consumer to induce a more economical use 
of material was most decidedly of a very useful order, the needs of the forest producer were by 
no means neglected. 

SILVICTJLTUEE AND FOEEST ECONOMY. 

Forestry, the art of wood production, may be divided into two parts, which can be treated 
more or less independently, namely, silviculture, which comprises all the detailed instructions that 
are necessary to create and grow the wood crop to perfection, and to reproduce it; and forest 
• economy, which comprises the business methods that must be employed to manage the crop so as 
to yield regular annual returns; the one branch being concerned with the production of the 
material, the other with the production of a revenue. 

Again in both cases we may distinguish between general principles and specific application. 
The first, fortunately for us, are already for the most part developed through the experiences of 
the Germans and other nations, and it is only necessary to present these general principles, when 
a study of local conditions, the soil, the climate, the market conditions, the species we have to 
deal with, etc., will enable the student of nature and the business man to form a judgment as to 
their applicability in his particular case. 

These general pi'inciples underlying silviculture and forest economy have been again and 
again discussed in reports, bulletins, circulars, and public addresses by the writer. The first 
brief presentation of the same is to be found in the annual report of the division for 188G. A 
bulletin (No. 5) entitled. What is Forestry, published in an issue of 40,000 copies, was devoted to 
an elucidation of the same subject. 

In order to bring this discussion closer to the conditions of one class of forest owners, our 
farmers, these silvicultural principles and methods were more fully discussed with reference to 
their possible application in a Farmers' Bulletin (No. 67) entitled Forestry for Farmers, while special 
phases of silviculture, as, for instance, the Growing of Seedlings in Nurseries, Planting of Waste 
Places on the Farm, Tree Planting in the Plains, Osier Culture, The Introduction of Certain 
Foreign Trees, etc., were discussed in separate circulars and special articles or bulletins. A dis- 
cussion of the general aspects of silviculture will be found in the appendix. 

The iH'inciples of forest economy were also elucidated in the various annual reports, and 
especially in the report for 1893, in which a statement of the methods of administration and forest 
regulation of the German forest departments is given in full. In addition, more complete state- 
ments of the financial results of these German forest administrations i^repared in the Division 
were published in public prints, to show the elements of profitable forest management as exhibited 
by these examples. 

Since these statements are scattered through various publications and are not now readily 
accessible, it has been deemed expedient to present the same as an appendix to this report, and 
thereby aid in elucidating the means which the Division has employed to make the practical appli- 
H. Doc. No. 181 2 



■ 18 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICUL,TURE. 

cation of such forest management acceptable. A discussion of the principles of forest economy 
in general is also appended. 

To have established the conception that forestry, silviculture, and forest preservation is uot 
the planting of trees, but cutting them in such a manner that planting becomes unnecessary, is 
one of the most jiotent results of the efforts of the Division of Forestry. Timber-land owners 
have begun to realize that forestry begins when the first tree is cut. Planting is expensive and 
should be practiced only where the chances for a natural reproduction by intelligent use of the 
ax have been frustrated by man's carelessness or where they did not exist, as in the forestless 
regions of the West. 

Forest preservation, it must by this time have become clear, does not con cist in leaving the 
forest unused, but in securing its reproduction, just as the human race is preserved by the 
removal of the old and the fostering of the young. 

APPLICATION OF FORESTRY PRINCIPLES. 

To apply forestiy principles, be it in forest economy or be it in silviculture, we must study 
local conditions in the field. 

In this direction the Division has had, at first, poor ojiportunities. Not only did it not have 
at its command any land or forest area for experimental or demonstration jjurposes, but the men 
to carry on such field work were as yet not educated for the special work to be undertaken. 

Again, while the basis for an application of forestry principles may be gained by studies in 
the field, the final application can be secured only by trained men, just as any other technical 
business requires technical knowledge and skill. 

It might have been possible to make some practical demonstration of the methods of forest 
regulation and of silviculture by inducing private timber-landowners to permit their properties to 
be placed at the disposal of the Division for such demonstration, but the writer was at once met 
with the objection that such a course would not be a proper iJolicy for the Government, as the 
use of i)ublic money for the benefit of private individuals would not be justified, even though a 
valuable object lesson might be gained thereby. Attempts were made to secure permission 
to use public timber lauds or military reservations for such demonstration purposes, but without 
success. Practical experiments in the field were therefore excluded, with the exception of the 
experimental planting which became possible later through the cooperation of the agricultural 
State experiment stations. 

The Division was on the whole reduced to such studies and investigations as could be 
carried on without the control of any demonstration areas. 'J'he vast extent of our empire, with 
such diversity of soils, climate, and economical conditions, made the task of selecting even these 
problems of local aj)pJication an appalling one, especially under the limitations imposed by small 
appropriations and the absence of trained men. The large number of valuable species of trees of 
which the United States can boast adds to the difficulties in securing the necessary inlormation 
for the application of their management in the regulated forest. 

While the European forester can concentrate his attention upon a half dozen or so of the 20 
or 30 species indigenous to his world, we are called upon to select from 500 species the 100 or 
more which we recognize as valuable for the forest. jSTot even their names are sufticiently 
established to allow a sure distinction by name among those who speak of them or handle tlieir 
lumber, or are called ujjon to supply seeds or plants. 

It was therefore a proper piece of foundation work, performed by the competent dendrologist 
of the Division, Mr. George B. Sudworth, to establish a nomenclature of our arborescent flora, 
both of vernacular and botanical names, which might form the basis of uniform usage. This 
excellent, painstaking, and laborious work, analyzing the laropriety and identity of over 0,000 
names applied to our 500 species, has been xjublished as Bulletin 14 of the Division, followed by 
a more condensed list for general use as Bulletin 18. 

In addition, a select list of those species which we may for the present consider of immediate 
economic value, with notes of their distribution, their uses, and their general silvicultural require- 
ments, was also x)repared and is reproduced in the appendix, giving an idea of the vast field open 
for the student of forest biology. 



FOREST MENSURATION. 19 

FOREST BIOLOGY. 

In order to apply silviculture, to manage a forest crop intelligently, we must first be acquainted 
with the biology, the life liistory, and development of the different species which compose our forest 
or which we desire to plant. We must know what conditions of soil, of moisture, of light they 
require for their best development; how their growth progresses from the seed to maturity, espe- 
cially their relative height growth and their light requirement or shade endurance. 

The Division engaged, therefore, in 1886, a number of botanists to study and report on the 
life history of our most imi)ortant forest trees. But it was soon found that such kind of field 
study from the forester's point of view was foreign to these men, and although a number of inter- 
esting notes were the result of this first venture into field work, tlieir publication had to be 
deferred until deficiencies in the information could be supplied. In this way the life history of the 
white pine, of the four important Southern pines, of the two yellow pines of the Northeastern 
States, of the spruce and the hemlock, of the juniper, of the bald cypress, and of the white cedar 
were studied. 

But so far only the monographs on the Southern pines and that on the white pine have been 
perfected far enough to be adjudged satisfactory for publication. The magnificent work on the 
Southern pines, by Dr. Charles Mohr, published as Bulletin 13, furnished a worthy beginning in 
tins line of investigation. It was the first attempt in the United States of a monographic study 
from a forestry point of view of the economic, technical, and silvicultural conditions and require- 
ments of four species of forest trees. 

The monograph on the white pine, being prepared for the press as Bulletin 22 while this report 
is being written, will in no way be inferior in contents to its predecessor, and several of the other 
monographs were in a fair way of completion when the writer withdrew from the direction of the 
Division. 

It is ui)on the basis of such knowledge as these life-histories bring that the forester is enabled 
to apply silvicultural principles in the management of his croi). 

In order to apply principles of forest economy he needs more; he must know the capacity of 
the species for production and the rate of growth in volume. Another line of work, therefore, is 
necessary to establish this capacity of production by measurements. 

FOREST MENSURATION. 

The forest crop differs from all other crops, and forestry differs from all other industries of 
production in two ways. There is, first, no definite j)eriod when the crop can be said to be mature, 
as in the case of agricultural products; it consists of annual accumulations, which are allowed 
to continue until the individual trees attain either a useful or a profitable size; and, secondly, to 
attain such size a long time, and with different species and conditions, a variable time is needed. 
Thus, for firewood production a growth of fifteen to twenty- five years might suffice, while for good 
lumber production not less than seventy-five to one hundred years and more are needed. This 
iudefiniteuess of the time of maturity and the unusually long xieriod of production during which 
the crop has to grow predicate peculiar business arrangements, entirely different from those 
prevailing in other industries if forest growing is to be carried on as a financial business, and so 
necessitate to a greater extent than with any other a full knowledge of the progress of the croj}. 

Tree measurements, especially measurements of the rate of growth of single trees and of whole 
stands of trees, furnish the basis for determining the question when under given conditions the 
useful or the profitable sizes may be expected to be attained, and also the question of quantitative 
production. 

The Division has therefore for some time, as opportunity, men, and money were at its disposal, 
carried on measurements of the rate of growth of certain species, especially of the important 
conifers. 

In the forthcoming monograph on the white pine a comprehensive statement of the growth 
of this most important timber tree, based on the analysis of nearly 700 trees from many localities 
will be found, which will show that this species is capable of producing, under proper management, 
larger amounts of valuable material in a shorter time than any of the European species. 

To establish the amounts which a species can produce in different lengths of time is a much 



20 POKESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPAKTiMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

more complicated matter tliau most people would suspect, especially since our measurements can 
only be made on trees and stands of trees which have grown in nature's unattended forests, while 
with the api)lication of knowledge and skill in the management of the crop quite different results 
may be secured. A bulletin of the Division, No. 20, has been published describing the methods of 
measurement of standing trees and forests and of the rate of growth of trees and forests. 

There have been many misconceptions abroad as to the rapidity of tree growth and the amounts 
that may be harvested from an acre in a given time. If wood alone were to be produced the mat- 
ter would be much more simple. We could, from the experience which has been gathered in other 
countries and in our own, soon arrive at a statement as to the amount of wood which an acre of a 
full-grown dense forest crop could produce, just as we know the productive capacity of an acre of 
wheat or barley. 

In an average of a hundred years the yearly growth, according to species, soil, and climatic 
conditions, would vary between 30 and 180 cubic feet of wood per acre each year. But, unless fire- 
wood is the object of forest cropping, it is not quantity of wood merely, but wood of given size 
and of given quality, wood fit for the arts, that is to be grown. It will only i)ay to raise wood of 
this kind. Hence, it is necessary not only to know what sizes can be grown in given periods of 
the life of the crop and what sizes can be profitably handled at the mill or in the market, but also 
what qualities are desired and under what conditions they can be produced. Trees develop very 
differently at different periods of their life. Thus, while a white-pine tree may in the first fifty 
years have grown on an average one-third of a cubic foot of wood i^er year, if we had waited till 
the hundredth year the average rate per year would appear as more than 1 cubic foot, and the 
total volume four to five times what it was at fifty years, although the diameter has only about 
doubled. Again, while at fifty years hardly more than 15 per cent of the total wood volume would 
have furnished saw timber, perhaps making 50 feet B. M., at one hundred years the proportion of 
the more valuable milling material would have risen to 40 per cent and more of the whole tree, 
and the output of timber would have reached 500 feet B. M. On the other hand, an acre of pine 
fully stocked which at one hundred years may have produced at the rate of 140 cubic feet per 
year could under the same conditions have produced for the first fifty years at the rate of 180^ 
cubic feet per year, or nearly one third more. Yet the value of the wood on that same acre at one 
hundred years is very considerably more than the fifty-year old wood, on account of the increased 
proportion of highly useful material that can be got from it. Similarly, we find that not more than 
1 to 2 i^er cent of the wood produced in the coppice sprouts of twenty to twenty five years' growth, 
in which Isew England abounds, is serviceable in the arts, while 50 to 75 per cent and more maybe 
thus profitably utilized from the same acre if grown from seed and allowed to grow one hundred 
years. 

It will be readily seen from these few glimpses into the subject that this knowledge of the 
rate of development and yield of our timber trees is indispensable for the discussion of the profits 
of forest cropping, and also furnishes hints for rational methods of silviculture. This same white- 
pine tree, for instance, could have made much more wood if it had been allowed to grow without 
interfering neighbors, but it would not only have assumed a less useful conical shape, but would 
have put much of its energy into branches, which not only do not furnish serviceable wood, but 
produce knotty lumber, an inferior or unsalable article. Moreover, the wood of most or many of 
our trees changes in quality with age, so that with size, form, and freedom from knots not only 
the technical value, but the money value also, grows disproportionately. 

It will then appear at once that these measurements must precede the discussion of the ques- 
tion most momentous to him who is to be induced to engage in the business of forest cropping, 
the first and last question asked : 

IS FORESTRY PROFITABLE'? 

It is claimed that if this question were answered in the affirmative, forestry i^ractice would at 
once be established in this country. Unfortunately it is a question that nobody can answer in 
general terms. No business is profitable per se; one railroad fails, another pays; for profitable- 
ness depends upon a complexity of conditions which are local, and hence without given conditions 
it is useless to attempt to answer such a question. It has been shown that under the economic 
and populational conditions of Germany (see Appendix) forestry is — not everywhere, by any 



IS FORESTRY PROFITABLE? 21 

means, but on the whole — a profitable business. There are large forest areas in eastern Prussia 
which even now do not earn their mere cost of administration, let alone the yielding of a net 
income on the capital represented. There are considerable areas in the mountains of Bavaria 
which are so disadvantageously located that they can not compete with the more favorably situated 
ones, and only because managed by the same owner, the Government, does the management 
appear profitable. This profitableness is expressed avowedly by a 3 or 4 per cent return on the 
capital involved which is tied up in the soil and the growing stock of wood that must be main- 
tained, and a smaller return is in many cases considered acceptable, while a larger return is 
probably rare. 

If, then, in a country with dense i)opulation, where in many places every twig can be marketed, 
with settled conditions of market, with no virgiu woods which could be cheaply exploited and 
come into advantageous competition with the costlier material produced' on managed properties, 
with cost of labor low and prices for wood comparatively high — if under such conditions the 
returns for the expenditure of money, skill, intellect in the production of wood crops is not more 
promising, it would seem hoiieless to develop the argument of profitableness in a country where 
all these conditions are the reverse, and a business man considers a per cent investment no 
sufficient inducement. 

Another point on which we must agree before discussing the question of profitableness is as to 
what we shall consider " profitable." The concejition as to profits to be expected from investment of 
capital varies with time and with different economic conditions. In our country, the rapid develoi)- 
ment of our vast resources has inti'oduced speculative aspects into almost every investment, even 
in bona fide business transactions, and the investor in business expects still a very much larger 
return than the low interest rates obtainable for money loans. Only when we are reaching a 
more settled, permanent civilization will the small but sure returns from such a business as the 
forestry business recommend themselves esiiecially to the large cajjitalist who seeks a permanent 
investment. 

From the standpoint of national economy, to be sure, the use of our poor soils, which are 
capable of producing- nothing but wood crops, is i^rofitable, though the money returns may not 
recommend themselves to the private investor. 

Again, if the question were asked. Is it profitable for a farmer to apply silvicultural prin- 
ciples in the cutting of his wood lot so as to reproduce a good second crop? the answer will be 
without doubt affirmative, provided the soil of the wood lot is not better adapted to agricultural 
production. So would the answer be to mine operators or furnace managers who own forest 
property for the purpose of supplying themselves with mine timber or charcoal as an adjunct to 
their business. 

The pulp manufacturer, too, who expects to run his mill continuously and has a definite object 
and i)ermaneut supply of raw material from his forest property to his own business in view, is in 
the same position; he will find it at least indirectly x^rofitable to apply both silviculture and forest 
economy from considerations which are conditioned on his own main business. But he who con- 
templates entering upon the independent business of forest growing to supply the great timber 
and wood market is in an entirely different position. 

The greater part of the forest property in this country is held either by speculators, who are 
waiting for the opportunity to dispos^e of the whole, or of the wood on it, who do not hold it as a 
permanent investment or as a basis for a business, or else by lumbermen, who from necessity or 
by education are also inclined, and by the momentum of their business methods are forced, not 
to look at their forest property as a permanent investment or upon their logs as a crop, but to 
treat it as a mine, a basis, to be sure, but only a speculative basis of their mill business. Only 
when these realize that there are no more speculative forest areas to be had, that the remaining 
virgin forest crop is either used up or out of the market, will they feel induced to alter their 
methods and engage in the production instead of the mere harvesting of wood crops, becoming 
breeders as well as butchers. 

There are other classes of capitalists, now in small numbers, who may, as in older countries, 
be induced to own and manage large forest properties with a view of practicing forestry, when 
they have found out that one of the safest investments, although promising only a small interest 
rate, is in forest properties. 



22 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

Forestry to be carried on profitably requires the bringing of large areas under one manage- 
ment, as the German governments do; it requires large amounts of capital permanently invested; 
it can not be carried on as a speculative business. To prove that this is so we need only inspect 
the comparatively poor results of private forestry in Germany, as given in the Appendix. 

Such investments will by and by attract our large capitalists and tiusts, when forestry will 
be carried on as profitably as in the older countries. But this is a matter which necessarily comes 
slowly and can not be brought about by any argument or action except that of economic changes. 

The writer, having had business experience himself, soon became convinced that before a 
general argument of the profitableness of forestry could be advanced many changes in economic 
conditions must take place, among which must be es])ecially a further reduction in virgin sup- 
plies and the establishment of the fact of a threatened scarcity of the same; in other words, an 
absolute necessity for the application of the art of forestry and also a change in the attitude 
toward investments in general from a speculative to a permanent character. 

He, therefore, was impressed the more with the necessity of Government action to counteract 
the destructive tendencies and to provide for the future, and also with the need of knowledge as 
to our actual supplies on hand. 

This knowledge can be had with satisfactory precision only by the expenditure of sufiScient 
funds, as intimated before. These, in spite of the urgent presentations of the matter could never be 
secured; the Census of 1880 had attempted the task with insufficient funds, at least with reference 
to certain classes of supplies, and the results, rightly or wrongly, were promptly discredited. 

The census authorities of 1890, being requested to fill this important gap in our knowledge of 
the country's condition, did not consider the matter as a proper one to be included in its investi- 
gations — the greatest source of wealth next to agriculture being thus neglected — although many 
inferior industries were thoroughly canvassed. The Division of Forestry was, therefore, in this 
particular reduced to taking iuforiuation second-hand and to attempt the various estimates, which 
have been discussed in the earlier part of this report, and some of which are rehearsed in the 
appendix. 

Whatever argument could be brought to induce the Government to at least take care of its 
own holdings was employed in reports, bulletins, and statements before Senate and House com- 
mittees. Notably in Bulletin 2, which describes in detail the conditions of the Eocky Mountain 
forests, mainly the property of the Federal Government, the duty of the State with reference to the 
property has been fully discussed, and finally through these efforts, assisted by other agencies, 
the Government was committed to the policy of forest reservations, happily inaugurated in 1891. 

For the Government, to be sure, other than financial considerations are paramount, and it can 
well afford, for cultural and economic reasons, to maintain forest reservations, even if they do not 
pay, or if they do not pay the rate of interest which the private business man expects from his 
venture. 

TREE PLANTING IN THE PLAINS. 

While we may, then, leave the development of this part of forest economy — the demonstration 
of its financial i^rofitableness — to the next generation, there is the indirect profit which comes to 
the farmer or owner of land iu stocking the poor parts of his property with a crop which will 
produce, if not an interest, yet an effect on the rest of his property. The settler in the forestless 
plains, especially, will pursue tree planting for the purpose of ameliorating his surroundings. Con- 
siderable attention has, therefore, been paid to developing silviculturaL methods under the condi- 
tions prevailing iu the plains. 

This tree planting has in view protection from cold and hot winds, shade and shelter, rather 
than wood supplies, and we may as well recognize at once the fact that, while undoubtedly this 
beneficial influence of timber belts may be secured in most parts of the arid and subarid belts, 
and incidentally the supplying of firewood and other timber of small dimensions for domestic use, 
it is entirely out of the question to expect that these plantings will ever furnish supplies for our 
great lumber market. These supplies will always, the writer believes, be grown in the regions in 
which forests now grow and which are by nature best adapted to wood crops. 

In these arid and subarid regions, where nature has denied tree growth, the climatic condi- 
tions are so different from those of the humid parts that not only different methods of cultivation 



TREE PLANTING IN THE PLAINS. 23 

are necessary, but the plant material must be imported and selected ■with a view to a rigorous 
climate, characterized by extreme ranges of temperarure. A range of 40° below zero to V20° F. 
above must be endured by the trees, their moisture requirements must be of the smallest, and they 
must be capable of resi)ondiiig to the enormous demands of evaporation. At first., whatever trees 
■will gro^w successfully from the stait under such untoward conditions -would have to be chosen, no 
matter what their usefulness other-wise might be. 

The first settlers have ascertained by trials some of the species that -will succeed under such 
conditions, but unfortunately most of these are of but small economic value and some of them are 
only short-lived under the conditions in ■which they have to grow. The methods of planting -were 
naturally suggested by the experience of orchardists and nurserymen, since forest planting had 
never been practiced in this country; but unquestionably many failures can be avoided by apj)lica- 
tion of forestry principles in these plantings. Whether more useful kinds can be found that may 
be grown to advantage, and whether methods of xjlanting can be devised by which a greater effi- 
ciency of the plantation may be gained, are problems -which the Division has taken up within the 
last few years. Such problems can, of course, only be solved by actual field work, experiment, 
or trial, and hence tlie cooperation of the State agricultural experiment stations was secured to 
carry on such experiments. The station authorities have placed some land at the disposal of the 
Department, and the professors of horticulture or some other officer of the station superintends, 
free of charge, the labor of planting, cultivating, etc., while the Division of Forestry furnishes the 
plans, plant material, and all expenses. 

So far, the stations of Montana, Utah, Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, South 
Dakota, and Minnesota are engaged in this cooperative work. In addition, there are two jjlanting 
stations located in the forested regions, namely, one in Minnesota and one in Pennsylvania, to 
experiment on i^ractical methods of reforesting cirt-over waste brush lands. 

Some few years ago the writer came to the conclusion that the conifers, especially the pines, 
would furnish more useful and otherwise serviceable plant material for the arid regions. Not only 
are they of. greater economic value than most of the deciduous trees that have been planted, but, 
requiring less moisture for their existence, they would, if once established, persist more readily 
through droughty seasons and be longer lived; besides, their persistent foliage would give more 
shelter all the year around. 

A small trial plantation on the sand hills of Nebraska, described in the annual reports of the 
Division for 1890 and 1891, lent countenance to this theory. To be sure, the difficulty of estab- 
lishing tlie young plants in the first place is infinitely greater than would be experienced with 
most deciduous trees. A large amount of attention was, therefore, devoted to finding practicable 
methods of growing the seedlings cheaply for extensive use and of protecting them for the first 
few years in the plantations; for the transplanting of conifers is attended with considerable diffi- 
culties, especially in a dry climate, and they require protection from the sun and winds during the 
first few years. They must, therefore, be planted in mixture with "nurse" trees which furnish not 
too much and yet enough shade. It can not be said that the success in using these species has so 
far been very encouraging; nevertheless, the failures maybe charged rather to our lack of knowl- 
edge and to causes which can be overcome than to any inherent incapacity of the species. The 
experimentations should, therefore, be persistently continued. 

Mixed planting and close planting are undoutbedly the proper methods of quickly establishing 
forest conditions, when without further attention the plantation will take care of itself. But it is 
essential to know what species should be planted together and how closely in order to secure the 
best results, and this knowledge can only come from experience and actual trial, since the behavior 
of trees in regions in which they are not indigenous can not be ijredicted by anyone. 

The results of these trial plantings have been discussed at great length, in Bulletin 18 of the 
Division, by Mr. Charles A. Kefl'er, who has been in charge of this particular work. Other minor 
investigations and experiments calculated to increase our silvicultural knowledge for the benefit 
of the forest producer were also carried on, and the introduction of special strains of basket osiers, 
of tan-bark wattle trees, of cork oak, and Eucalyptus seed, as well as the distribution of seeds and 
seedlings to would-be planters — to be sure oidy in small amounts as justified by the small appro- 
priation — belong to this work of silvicultural advancement. 



24 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

DISTRIBUTION OF PLANT MATERIAL. 

There is no doubt that to the settler on the treeless plain the supply of plant material could 
be made an effective incentive to forest planting, but it would have to be done on a different scale 
from that which lias been practicable under the appropriations for the Division. Distribution of 
plant material for agricultural use and for forest i^lanting differs in principle as well as in object. 
While seed distribution in the iirst case may be desirable for the purjiose of introducing new kinds 
and improving the character of agricultural crops, this can only exceptionally be the purpose in 
the distribution of forest-plant material. The native trees are almost invariably the best to plant. 
The object of the distribution would be to induce the planting of a crop which without such special 
inducement would not be planted at all. Moreover, the handling of tree seeds is connected with 
greater difficulties than of agricultural seeds, and planting of seedlings rather than of seed is the 
proper xjrocedure. 

Since forest planting means planting on large areas, if there is to be any result, and requires 
a large number of plants to the acre — not less than 2,000 — it is at once apparent that the Division 
could not supply the plant material for many acres or to many applicants. After useless and dis- 
couraging attempts to comply with the law, the effort was abandoned and the provision remained 
a dead letter, except when there could be secured seeds or plants of certain kinds, the adapta- 
bility of which to certain climatic conditions was desired'to be tested. 

TREES FOB THE ARID REGIONS. 

In 1897, at the request of the Secretary of Agriculture to devise means of finding the trees 
best adapted for planting in arid regions, including in this term probably all parts of the dry 
country west of the 100th meridian, which is practically treeless, the writer submitted a plan, 
which would at least insure a comprehensive and systematic basis for the accohiplishment of the 
final object. It contemplated the establishment of a series of arboreta in various parts of that 
dry region, where the arborescent flora of the arid regions of the world might be assembled and 
tested, after thorough study of the climates of the regions where this plant material was to be 
collected by competent men. A competent gentleman was secured to carry out this plan, the 
methods and objects of which are more fully set forth in Bulletin 21 of the Division of Forestry, 
This plan, devised for a specific line of introduction of exotics, recommended itself so well for gen- 
eral application in the work of plant introduction that it has been developed as a special branch 
of the Seed Division, where now, with special appropriations, the whole question of plant importa- 
tion is placed on a systematic basis. 

PROPAGANDA WORK. 

A large amount of attention, time, and energy has been spent by the Division and its chief to 
secure recognition of its field and to elucidate its meaning, its importance, aud its methods before 
, legislators, before associations, before the public, and in the technical and daily press. 

Its exhibits at the various expositions at New Orleans, at Cincinnati, at Paris, at Chicago, at 
Atlanta, at Nashville, at Omaha, have perhaps had as much effect in bringing the subject home 
to the people as_ its i^rinted utterances. 

While the many addresses and lectures delivered before associations and other public meet- 
ings, the many articles furnished to magazines aud journals, the many arguments and statements 
presented before legislative committees, may perhaps hardly be considered as work of an ofiicial 
nature, nevertheless they did their share in advancing correct ideas among the i)eop]e quite as 
much as if they had been uttered officially. The reiteration of the same truths in different garb 
is necessary if we desire to secure a reform, and every means must be seized upon if we desire to 
educate a large public. The Division, therefore, identified itself with every movement which was 
started in the same direction, in which its official functions directed it. It became the acknowl- 
edged assistant of all such movements. 

In thus molding public opinion it became instrumental in committing legislatures and gov- 
ernments to take an interest in forestry matters and to consider legislation in their behalf. 

While eventually many other influences became active in forwarding the forestry movement, 
it will not be denied that the first and the most active factor in advancing forestry reform has 
been the Division of Forestry. 



FOKESTRY LEGISLATION. 25 

INFLTTENCE OF THE DIVISION OF FORESTRY ON THE FORESTRY MOVEMENT. 

In 1876, when the first agency to report on forestry was established in the Department, the 
very word "forestry" was absent from the dictionaries, and the word "forester" was defined as 
"an officer appointed to watch a forest or chase and to preserve the game (English)." 

The idea of an art by that name and of its objects and methods did not exist among our peo- 
ple, except with a few who had traveled abroad. 

To-day there is hardly a week when not one or more of the daily journals discuss with consid- 
erable familiarity some phase of interest pertaining to forestry, and it has become a matter of 
daily conversation, a topic of public lectures and magazine articles. 

That the Division has been the most potent inlluence in bringing about this change can be 
readily shown by the constant references to it when the subject is discussed, by the voluminous 
quotations from its publications, and by the uncredited, nevertheless often almost verbatim, 
restatements of its utterances by writers for the public press. 

There are in existence now one national (since 1882) and a number of State and local forestry 
associations engaged in promoting the subject in their various spheres of action. The Division, 
or at least its chief, has been either an active member or officer of some of these organized bodies, 
or else has been instrumental or helpful in bringing them into existence or assisting with advice or 
contributions to their programme. 

Many other associations organized for the promotion of allied purposes discuss the subject of 
forestry at their meetings, and their proceedings show not only the stimulating influence of the 
work of the Division, but contain a large number of contributions to their publications from the 
same source. 

Some twenty agricultural colleges have incorporated into their courses lectures on forestry, 
and "professors of forestry," usually the botanist or horticulturist, at these institutions impart 
their knowledge of the subject in either elective or required courses. The publications of the 
Division, being the most available technical hterature in the country, serve largely as the basis of 
these lectures or even as text-books. 

The State of New York has gone a step further and has this year established a fully organized 
professional school, the State College of Forestry at New York University, inviting the then chief 
of the Forestry Division to assume its directorship. The course prescribed for students who 
desire the degree of bachelor in the science of forestry is as fiill as any in other similar branches 
and as complete as those given at the best forestry schools of Germany. (See Appendix.) 

With the establishment of this first professional school of forestry we may say that the art of 
forestry, not merely as a matter for discussion, is engrafted upon our system and a new era in the 
movement for rational forestry methods is begun. 

The most important feature of this novel educational venture is an experimental area of 
30,000 acres specially set aside to demonstrate the methods of silviculture and forest economy, 
so as to serve as a model eventually for the rest of the State property. 

FORESTRY LEGISLATION. 

Forest fires have been the bane of American forests. It is estimated that more wood has 
been burned up in the yearly conflagrations than has been utilized. There could be no expecta- 
tion of applying rational forestry methods until forest property is protected against immediate 
loss and destruction by tire. There were laws against incendiaries on the statute books of nearly 
every State, but they were inoperative and inefficient. The first effective law against forest fires in 
active operation was drafted by the writer in 1885 for the State of New York, and was inaugurated 
the same year. It provided for a well organized system to suppress fires. Substantially the same 
law, with minor modifications, has been adopted by the States of Maine, New Hampshire, Wis- 
consin, and Minnesota, the Forestry Division being at least the means of making the methods 
known through its reports and correspondence.^ 

Nine States have special forestry commissions or other agencies charged with taking care of 
the forestry interests of their States or else to investigate and report on desirable legislation, and 
three or four other States have charged some existing commission with similar duties. In many 

' For this legislation and otUer specific information regarding conditions in tlie United States see Appendix. 



26 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

if uot most case,s the legislation leading to these commissions has been either formulated or 
suggested by the writer, or at least supported by arguments and facts drawn from the Division. 

The State of New York has set aside a forest reserve of over 1,000,000 acres, and is adding 
yearly to it by purchase, intending to increase it ultimately to 3,000,000 acres. 

The legislation establishing the first commission to take charge of the foi'est property of the 
State was formulated by the writer in 1885 at the request of State Senator Low, who secured its 
passage, while several other bills drawn for the same purpose were tabled. 

The State of Pennsylvania has last year followed the example and launched into a similar 
policy. It has j)iii"chased, or is about to purchase, a number of forest reservations, whicli are 
placed under the management of the active forest commissioner. 

The Federal Government finally has reserved 38,000,000 acres of the public timber lands as 
forest reservations. While to commit our Government to such a i)olicy, which would twenty 
years ago have appeared entirely foreign to our ideas of government functions, could hardly have 
been accomplished by any one agency, nevertheless tlie result has been undoubtedly an effect of 
the educational campaign carried on mainly by the Division. 

Dr. Hough, in his third report, suggested the withdrawal of all public timber lands and 
discussed principles for their management. In 1886 the present writer formulated further 
methods of management (see page 164, Rejiort of the Commissioner of Agriculture for 1SS6), and 
in 1887 framed a comprehensive bill' which was presented to Congress and advocated through the 
American Forestry Association. This bill, afterwards known as the Paddock bill ' later modified 
into the so-called McEae bill,- contains the features upon which all subsequent legislation regard- 
ing forest reserves has been based. 

The section of the law of March 3, 1891, which establishes the policy of forest reservations 
was formulated by the then Secretary of the Interior who publicly aud in print" acknowledged 
his indebtedness for the idea to the educational influence referred to. 

In securing the first reservations to the extent of nearly 20,000,000 acres, the American Forestry 
Association a-nd the chief of the Division, at the same time the chairman of the executive com- 
mittee of the Association, were most active, as may be learned from the files in the General Land 
Oflice. 

Several bills providing for the administration of these forest reserves were also formulated and 
supported by argument before the Pubhc Lauds Committee of both House aud Senate, and the 
passage of one of these in both Houses was secured in 1895, failing to become a law only from 
lack of time to secure a conference report. 

While the influence of other agencies in bringing about these various advances toward a 
forestry system in the United States is not denied or undervalued, the writer, as a fair historian, 
has found it necessary to assume the position of seeming self-glorification. It was impossible to 
dissociate the personal efforts of the chief from the work of the Division, and it was also impossible 
to offer a justification for the existence of the Division, as was evidently required by the clause in 
the act of 1897 calling for this rei^ort, without tracing in definite directions the tangible results 
which its work has secured, directly or indirectlj'. 

In addition to the unquestionable advancement in educational and legislative direction, the 
Division has also i^roduced as described an amount of valuable technical information, which in 
itself is believed to furnish ample justification for its past existence. 

Finally, it should be stated that a small number of timber-land owners have ventured to place 
their woodlands under management. While in most of these cases the Division had no direct 
relation to the undertaking, its long-continued educational campaign, which made it apparent 
that decreasing supplies can only be met by intelligent recuperative methods, must have had its 
effect in inducing such beginnings. 

In conclusion, I may be permitted upon my retirement from the direction of its work to charac- 
terize the past period of twenty years of the existence of the Division as the period of propaganda 
and primary education. We have during this period made the beginnings for a new departure, 

I S. 2307, Fifty-first Congress. 

= See page 15 of the Report of tlie Division of Forestry for 1887. 

^See Proceedings American Forestry Association, yo\. 10. 



FORESTRY LEGISLATION. 27 

for an economic reform. We have laid the foundations upon which it will be possible to build a 
superstructure. 

Many things which were not possible, or would not have been timely to attempt before, can 
now be done because circumstances have changed, people have become educated, their minds have 
become receptive. Educated foresters, who were not at the command of the Division during the 
past period, can now be found in sufficient numbers to carry on technical work, which was imprac- 
ticable, nay impossible, before. 

While at first the Division of Forestry was the only ediicatioual element in the forestry move- 
ment, it may now, perhaps, be left to other agencies to carry on a general propaganda and cam- 
paign of enlightenment, and the Division can concentrate itself more upon the development of the 
technical side of forestry. 

Finally, however, a Division of Foresty in a Government which has reserved millions of acres 
of forest property must logically become the manager of that forest property, leaving the develop- 
ment of technical detail to a minor branch or to other institutions. 

B. E. Feenow, LL. D., 
Director mid Bean, Neio Yorh State CoUcfje of Forestry, and formerly 

Chief of Division of Forestry, U. iS'. Department of Agriculture. 



APPENDIX 



REPORT OJSr FORESTRY I]SrVESTIGATIO:^S, 

U. S. DEPAKTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



OOE"TEI^TS. 



A. Memorial of a coiumitteo of the American Association for the Advancement of Science iu behalf of forest 

proser\'atioii, leading to the establishment of th;; Division of Forestry 37 

B. List of publications relating to forestry issued from the Department of Agriculture since 1877 40 

C. Forests and forestry in the United States 45 

1. Original condition of forest areas — 

Present condition — Foi-est botanical description 48 

2. Trees of the United States important iu forestry — 

Biological Studies: Southern lumber pines 51 

3. American woods 87 

List of the more important woods of the United States — Comparative statements of properties of 
American woods — How to distinguish the different kinds of wood — Key to the more important 
woods of North America--Structure of the wood of the five Southern pines. 

4. Economic aspects of forest resources 116 

Forest conditions of Wisconsin — The naval store industry. 

5. Development of a forest policy 166 

Historical — Associated jiropaganda — Forestry commissions — Forest-fire legislation — Forestry edu- 
cation — Federal forest policy. 

D. Forest policies of European nations " 205 

E. Forest conditions and methods of forest management in Germany, with a brief account of forest manage 

ment in British India 213 

Forest area, extent and ownership— State control— Character of forest growth— Exploitation — Price 
of wood iu the forest — Price of manufactured lumber— Yield per acre — Consumption of wood 
materials — Financial results of forest inanag(mient. — Forest administration. 
Forest management of leading states : Prussia — Saxony — Bavaria — Wurttemberg— Baden — Alsace and 

Lorraine 225 

Methods of German forest management 238 

Forest management in British India 259 

F. Principles of silviculture 264 

How trees grow — How to plant a forest — How to treat the wood lot — The relation of forests to farms. 

G. Principles of forest economy 299 

H. Forest influences _. 306 

I. The work in timber physics in the Division of Forestry. By Filibort Roth, late assistant in Division of 

Forestry .-. 330 

Historical — Southern and Northern oak — Southern, bled and unbled pine — Distribution of resin in 
pine — Mechanical and physical properties of Southern pine— Strength of large beams and columns — 
Summary of mechanical tests on 32 species — Tests of maximum uniformity — Relation of com- 
pression — Endwise strength to breaking load of beam — Development of the science of timber 
physics and methods employed. 

J. Metal ties for railway's and economies in the use of wooden ties. By E. E. Russell Tratman, C. E 396 

31 



ILLUSTEATIOl^S. 



PLATES. 



Plate I. Map showing distribution of forests and lumber regions in the United States 48 

II. Map showing distribution of forest land, brush laud, and open country west of the 97th meridian, 

and national forest reservations 48 

III. Map showing distribution of forest types in North America 48 

IV. Fig. 1. Longleaf-pine forest in Louisiana flats, virgin, scorched by fire, as usual. Fig. 2. Loni;leaf- 

pine forest after removal of merchantable timber 64 

V. Cuban-pine flatwoods of Florida 66 

VI. Map showing distribution of longleaf-pine forests 68 

VII. Map showing distribution of shortleaf pine 68 

VIII. Map showing distribution of loblolly pine 68 

IX. Longleaf pine {Pinus palustris), typical trees 74 

X. Longleaf pine (Pinus jialustris), seedlings and young plant 74 

XL Longleaf pine {Pinna palustris) , bud develoi)ment 76 

XII. Longleaf pine {Pinus palusiris), male and female flowers 76 

XIII. Longleaf pine {Finns palustris) , open cone, natural size 76 

XIV. Cuban pine {Pinus keterophylla) , development of cone 78 

XV. Shortleaf pine {Finns eehinata), forest-grown specimens in Missouri 80 

XVI. Shortleaf pine {Finns eehinata), development of cone, seed, and leaves 80 

XVII. Shortleaf pine {Pinus eehinata), seedling, male and female flower and leaf sections 80 

XVIII. Loblolly pine {Pinus twda), typical tree 82 

XIX. Loblolly pine {Pinus twda), female flowers, cone and seed 82 

XX. Typical cross sections of Finns twda, heierophyUa, and glahra 114 

XXI. Typical cross sections of Pinus xialustria and eehinata, and radial sections of Pinus palustris and 

glabra 114 

XXII. Eadial sections of Pinus eehinata and heierophi/lla 114 

XXIII. Radial sections of Finns twda and tangential sections of Pinus palustris and eehinata 114 

XXIV. Tangential sections of Finns twda, heterophylla, and glahra 114 

XXV. Tangential sections of Finns eehinata, heterophylla, and glahra 114 

XXVI. Transverse resin ducts 114 

XXVII. Map showing forest conditions of Wisconsin 138 

XXVIII. Fig. 1. Chipping the longleaf pine. Fig. 2. Dipping the crude resin 144 

XXIX. Fig. 1. American practice of boxing and chipping. Fig. 2. Tools used in American practice of tur- 
pentine orcharding 154 

XXX. Fig. 1. Turpentine orcharding in France. Fig. 2. Tools used in French practice of turpentine 

orcharding 158 

XXXI. Fig. 1. Turpentine gathering (Hugues system), till and pot. Figs. 2, 3, and 4: Cross sections 

through bled trees 158 

XXXII. Map for direction of forest managers ■ 240 

TEXT FIGURES. 

Fig. 1. Diagram showing comparative progress of height growth in average trees 85 

2. Diagram showing comparative jirogress of diameter in average trees 86 

3. Diagram showing comparative progress of volume growth in average trees 87 

4. Non-porous woods 98 

5. Ring-porous woods 99 

6. Diffuse-porous woods 99 

7. Wood of coffee tree 102 

8. Wood of ash 103 

9. Wood of red oak 103 

10. Wood of chestnut 103 

11. Wood of hickory 104 

H. Boc. No. 181 3 33 



34 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

Page. 

Fig. 12. Wood of beech, sycamore, birch 105 

13. Wood of maple 105 

14. AVoodofelm 105 

15. Woodof waluut 106 

16. Wood of cherry 106 

17. Variation of summerwood 109 

18. Variation of specific gravity 110 

19. Variation of summerwood, per cent Ill 

20. Schematic representation of coniferous wood structure 112 

21. Cell endings in pine 112 

22. Cross section of normal and stunted growth in longleaf pine 113 

23. Diagram showing arrangement of age classes 243 

24. Diagram showing comparative progress of yields of spruce, fir, piue, and beech 244 

25. Iron dibble used in setting out small pine seedlings 247 

26. Tree classes : Classification according to crown development 253 

27. Physiological importance of different parts of the tree; pathways of water and food materials 269 

28. Bud development of beech 270 

29. Buds of maple 270 

■ 30. Dormant bud on a 12-year-old branch of beech 271 

31. Section through a 12-year-old stem of beech, showing manner of bud and limb formation 271 

32. Section through a partly decayed knot in oak wood 271 

33. Development in and out of the forest 272 

84. Trees in and out of the forest 273 

35. Sections of logs showing tlie relative development of knots 274 

36. Scheme to illustrate the annual growth 274 

37. Oak tree grown in the open 275 

38. Maple tree grown in the forest 275 

39. Showing plan of grouji system in regenerating a forest crop 289 

40. Appearance of regeneration by group method 290 

41. Method of layering to produce new stocks in coppice wood 292 

42. Diiierences of mean annual temperatures of soil (W — O) 318 

43. Difference of temperature (W — O) at the depth of 4 feet 319 

44. Differences of soil temperature (woods and open fields). Comparison of deciduous and evergreen trees 

(W— O) 319 

45. Difference of soil temperature (W — 0), all stations— German observatories 320 

46. Differences of soil temperature (woods and open fields). Comparison of elevations above sea level 

(W— O) 320 

47. Differences of temperature for young trees, Lintzel Station, woods and open fields (W — 0) 320 

48. Effects of litter on soil temperature (littered surface — bare). (W — 0) 321 

49. Difference of soil temperature, under sod and bare surface (sod — bare). Becquerel's observations 321 

50. 51, and 52. Forest air temperature, difference of woods and open fields (W — 0), deciduous trees, 

evergreen trees, and young forest (Lintzel) 321 

53. Forest air temperature differences, AV — O. German stations : ... 322 

54, 55, 56, 57, and 58. Forest air temperature differences, woods and open fields (W — 0), at Friedrichsrode, 

Hagenau, Sonnenberg, Eberswalde, Schoo, Marienthal, Hadcrsleben, and average 323 

59, 60, 61, 62, and 63. Forest air temperature differences, woods and open fields (W — 0) at Marienthal, 

Hadersleden, elevated stations, near sea level — average 324 

64. Forest air temperature differences for the year at height of the tree top (W — O) 325 

65. Average differences of tree-top temperature, sixteen German stations (W — O) 325 

66. 67, 68, 69, and 70. Tree-top temperature, differences (W — 0) at Friedrichsrode, Eberswalde, St. Johann, 

Carlsberg, and Schoo 326 

71, 72, 73, 74, and 75. Tree-top temperature differences, German stations (W — O), Sonnenberg, Kurwien, 

Hagenau, and Neumath— deciduous trees 327 

76. Tree-top temperature differences, German stations, evergreen trees 328 

77. Vertical temperature, gradient In woods, degrees Fahrenheit, for a hundred feet 328 

78. Vertical temperature gradients from observations above trees 328 

79. Forest temperature differences above trees, from Fautrat's observations : . . . 328 

80. Evaporation and precipitation 329 

81. Slonthly evaporation in the fields (upper curve) and woods (lower curve), in inches 329 

82. Percentage of evaporation in tlie woods as compared with that In open fields 329 

83. Ratio of evaporation from water surface in fields and forest to precipitation 329 

84. Percentage of evaporation in woods to that in the ojien air 329 

85. Method of chemical analysis of turpentine 336 

86. Method of distillation of turpentine 337 

87. Distribution of turpentine in trees 339 



•» ILLUSTRATIONS. ^'^ 

Page. 

340 

88. Relationship of different parts of same disk .- ■ ^^ 

and age ■. ' " 353 

m A^ariation of compression strengtli witli moisture - - -- 

II LsTof water in liln drying and reahsorption in air shrinking and swelling 3=^^^ 

95 Relation of strength in compression endwise to weight of material ^^^ 

pression endwise - 373 

98. Relation of fiber stresses and distortion g^g 

99" Distribution of internal stresses in a heam at rupture....... ^^^ 

100 Position of neutral axis and internal stresses at rupture of beam ^^^ 

101. Fiber distortion in unit length of beam at elasticlimit _\\'.. 375 

102. Position of neutral plane at rupture ggg 

103. Method of sawing test logs - 3ge 

104. Apparatus for determining speciac gravity -"-■• ggg 

105. Result of physical examination (sample) 



A. MEMORIAL TO CONGRESS. 



MEMOEIAL OF A COMMITTEE OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF 
SCIENCE ON BEHALF OF FOREST PRESERVATION, LEADING TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF 
THE DIVISION OF FORESTRY. 

[From Senate Ex. Doc. 28, first Session Fortytliird Congress, or Report No. 259, H. R., first Session Forty-third Congress.] 

At the meeting of the Association for tlie Advancement of Science held at Portland', Me., on 
tLe 22d day of August, 1873, the following resolution was passed: 

Resolved, That a committee be appointed liy this association to memorialize Congress and the several State legis- 
latures on the importance of promoting the cultivation of timber and the preservation of forests, and to recommend 
such legislation as may be deemed proper for securing these objects. Also, that this committee be instructed to 
cooperate with national associations for a similar object. 

The committee appointed consisted of PraTiklin B. Hough, Lowville, N. T. ; George B. 
Emerson, Boston, Mass.; Prof. Asa Gray, Cambridge, Mass.; Prof. J. D. Whitney, San Francisco, 
Cal. ; Prof. J. S. jSTewberry, New York City; Hon. Lewis H. Morgan, Eochester, N. Y. ; Col. Charles 
Whittlesey, Cleveland, Ohio; Prof. William H. Brewer, New Haven, Conn., and Prof. E. W. 
Hilgard, Ann Arbor, Mich. 

Under this appointment consultation has been had among members of this committee, who 
have requested the undersigned, on their behalf, to represent as follows: 

That the preservation and growth of timber is a subject of great practical importance to the 
people of the United States, and is becoming every year of more and more consequence, from the 
increasing demand for its use; and that while this rapid exhaustion is taking place, there is no 
effectual j)rovision against waste or the renewal of supply. 

We apprehend that the time is not distant when great public injury must result from this 
cause, and we deem it to be our duty to urge upon the Government the importance of taking timely 
action in liroviding against the evils that must otherwise follow. 

Besides the economical value of timber for construction, fuel, and the arts, which is obvious 
without suggestion, and must increase with the growth of the nation, there are questions of 
climate that appear to have a close relation to the presence or absence of woodland shade. The 
drying up of rivulets, which feed our mill streams and navigable rivers and supply our canals, the 
failure of the sources which supply our cities with pure water, and the growing tendency to floods 
and drought resulting from the unequal distribution of the rainfalls since the cutting off of our 
forests are subjects of common observation. 

In European countries, especially in Italy, Germany, Austria, and France, where the injuries 
resulting from the cutting off of timber have long since been realized, the attention of govern- 
ments has been turned to this subject by the necessities of the case, and conservative measures 
have in many instances been successfully applied, so that a supply of timber has been obtained 
by cultivation, and other benefits resulting from this measure have been realized. 

Special schools of forestry have been established under the auspices of government, and the 
practical applications of science in the selection of soil and conditions favorable for iiarticular 
species, and in the planting, care, and removal of timber, are taught and applied, with the view 
of realizing the greatest benefits at the least expense. 

37 



38 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

There is great clanger that, if not provided against, the fearful changes may happen to our 
largest rivers which have taken place on the Po and other large rivers of Italy, Prance, and 
Spain, caused by the destruction of the forests from which came their tribiitaries. These forests 
had retained, the water from the snows and rains of winter and spring, and supplied it gradually 
during the summer. Since their destruction the rain falling in the rainy season comes down 
almost at once, bringing with it earth and stones, deluging the banks of the larger streams, but 
leaving a very insufflcient provision for evaporation and against the consequent drought 
of Slimmer. 

Thus, when the forests about the sources of our great rivers shall be cut away, the water from 
the melting snows aud early rains will be liable to come down in vast floods, overflowing the 
banks and carrying ruin aud destruction in their course, while the affluent streams in summer 
will diminish or disappear, to the great injury of the country through which they flow. 

We deem it highly important that the true condition and wants of the country in this regard, 
and the injuries that may result from the destruction of the forests aud the exhaustion of our 
supplies of timber, should be known in time to provide a remedy before the evils are severely felt. 
There are facts of the greatest importance in relation to the past and present destruction of forests, 
the pressing want of timber trees in States without natural forests, and the changes that have 
taken place, or are taking place, in consequence of the destruction of the forests, that should be 
carefully collected and be widely and familiarly known, 

A knowledge of these facts would be everywhere of great value. They should be gathered, 
arranged, and so widely published as to reach the intelligent inhabitants of all the States. There 
is not a State or Territory without a direct interest in the subject. We should know the experi- 
ence of other countries and be able to apply whatever may be found therein suited to our soil and 
climate and consistent with the plan of our government and the theory of our laws. 

Individual or associated effort, unless organized and directed by authority, could not be 
expected to conduct these inquiries or make known the results with that fullness which the 
investigation would require. We therefore recommend them as worthy of the attention of Con- 
gress, as the immediate guardian of the Territories and the proper source of power in whatever 
concerns the interest of the whole country. 

We would therefore respectfully request the passage of a law creating a commission of 
forestry, to be appointed by the President and Senate, and that it should be required to ascertain, 
from the most effectual and reliable means within its power, and to report to Congress upon the 
following subjects: 

First. Upon the amount and distribution of woodlands in the United States, the rate of con- 
sumption and waste, and the measures that should be adopted to provide against the future 
wants of the country in the preservation and planting of timber. With this there should be an 
inquiry concerning the importation and exportation of lumber and other forest property. 

Second. The iufluence of forests upon the climate, and especially as to what extent their 
presence or absence tends to affect the temperature, rainfall, and other atmospheric conditions 
upon which agricultural success depends. 

Third. A full statement of the methods practiced in Europe in relation to the planting and 
management of forests, and an account of the special schools of forestry that have been estab- 
lished in foreign countries. 

Eespectfully submitted. ' Franklin B. Hough, 

Geo. B. Emerson, 
On Behalf of the Committee of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. 

Washington, D, C, February 6, 1874. 



JOINT RESOLUTION FOR APPOINTMENT OF COMMISSION. 39 

JOINT EESOLTJTION for tlio appointment of a commission for inquiry into the destruction of forests and into the measures necessary 
• for the preservation of timber. 

Whereas it is asserted that the supply of timber within the United States is rapidly diminishing, and that great 
puhlic injury must result from its continued waste, without adequate means being taken for its preservation and 

production: Therefore, . . ^ 77 7 t^i *. 

Be it resolved Tiij the Senate and Rouse of Eepreseniatives of the United States of America m Conoress assemhled, That 

the President be, and he is hereby, authorized and required to appoint, by and with the adyico and consent of the 

Senate, a man of approved scientific and practical acquaintance with statistical inquiries, to be commissioner of 

°^^^slc 2 And be it further resolved, That it shall be the duty of said commissioner to prosecute investigations and 
inquiries on the subject with the view of ascertaining the annual amount of consumption, importation, and exporta- 
tion of timber and other forest products; the probable supply for future wants; the means best adapted to its pres- 
ervation and renewal; the influence of forests upon cliniato, and the measures that have been successfully apphed 
in forein-n countries for the preservation and restoration of forests; and to report upon the same to Congress. 

Sec 3 And U it farther resolved, That the heads of the Executive Departments be, and they are hereby, directed 
to cause to be rendered all necessary and practicable aid to the said commisshnier, by access to the public records 
and otherwise, in the prosecution of the investigations and inquiries aforesaid. 



B. LIST OF PUBLICATIONS RELATING TO FORESTRY ISSUED 
FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE SINCE 1877. 



BULLETINS. 



No. 1. Report on the Eolations of Eailroads to Forest Supplies and Forestry, together with 
appendices on the structure of some timber ties, tlie behavior and the cause of their decay in the 
roadbed, on wood preservation, on metal ties, and on the use of spark arresters, by B. E. Fernow. 
Pp. 149, pis. 7, figs. 7. 1887. 

B'o. 2. Report on the Forest Conditions of the Eocky Mountains, with a map showing the loca- 
tion of forest areas on the Eocky Mountain range, and other papers. Pp. 252, map, 1, diagr., 1. 
1888. 

Contents: Extracts from Reports of tlie Commissioners of the Land Office — The Government in its relation to 
forests, by I'rof. E. J. James — Report on the forest conditions of the Rocky Mountains, by Col. Edgar T. Ensign — 
Map showing the location of forest areas aud principal irrigation ditches in the Rocky Mountain region — Forest 
flora of the Rocky Mountains, by George B. Sud worth — Report on the forests of Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and 
San Diego counties, Cal., by Abbott Kinney — Trees and shrubs of San Diego County, Cal. — The needs of the Yellow- 
stone National Park, by Arnold Hague, geologist in charge — Summary of legislation for the preservation of timber 
or forests on the public domain, by N. H. Egleston — The climate of Colorado and its effects upon trees, by George H. 
Parsons — Snow slides or avalanches, their formation and prevention, by B. E. Feruow. 

No. 3. Preliminary Eeport on the Use of Metal Track on Eailways as a Substitute for Wooden 
Ties, by E. E. Eussell Tratman, C. E., to which is added a report of experiments in wood season- 
ing by the Chicago, Burlington and Quiucy Railroad Company, and other notes. Compiled by 
B. E. Fernow. Pp. 79, diagr. 6. 1889. 

No. 4. Eeport on the Substitution of Metal for Wood in Railroad Ties, by E. E. Eussell Trat- 
man, C. E., together with a discussion on practicable economies in the use of wood for railway 
purposes, by B. E. Fernow. Pp. 363, pis. 30. 1890. 

No. 5. What is Forestry, by B. E. Fernow, Chief of Division of Forestry. Pp. 52. 1891. 

No. 6. Timber Physics. Part I. Preliminary Eeport. Compiled by B. E. Feruow, Chief of 
Division of Forestry. Pp. 61, pis. 6, figs. 12. 1892. 4°. 

1. Need of investigation. 2. Scope and historical development of the science of "timber physics." 3. Organi- 
zation and methods of the timber examinations in the Division of Forestry. 

No. 7. Forest Influences. Pp. 197, figs, 63. 1893. 

1. Introduction and summary of conclusions, by B. E. Fernow. 2. Review of forest meteorological observa- 
tions, a study preliminary to the discussion of the relations of forest to climate, by M. W. Harrington. 3. Relation 
of forest to water supplies, by B. E. Fernow. 4. Notes on the sanitary siguiticauce of forests, by B. E. Fernow. 
Appendices: 1. Determiuation of the true amount of precipitation and its bearing on theories of forest influences, 
by Cleveland Abbe. 2. Analysis of rainfall with relation to surface conditions, by George E. Curtis. 

No. 8. Timber Physics. Part 2. Pp. 92, pis. 12, figs. 22. 1893. Progress report : Eesults of 
investigations on long-leaf pine. 

Contents: Mechanical tests made at Washington University testing laboratory, St. Louis, by J. B. Johnson — 
Field report on turpentine timber, by F. Roth — Resinous contents aud their distribution in the long-leaf pine, by M. 
Gomberg — Field records of test material, by C. Mohr. 

No. 9. Eeport on the Use of Metal Railroad Ties and on Preservation Processes and Metal 
Tie-plates for Wooden Ties. By E. E. Russell Tratman, A. M., Am. Soc. C. E. (supplementary to 
report on the Substitution of Metal for Wood in Railroad Ties, 1890). Prepared under the direc- 
tion of B. E. Fernow, Chief of Division of Forestry. Px). 303, pis. 5. 1894. 
40 



LIST OF FORESTRY PUBLICATIONS. 41 

ISTo. 10. Timber : An Elementary Discussion of the Characteristics and Properties of Wood. By 
Filibert Koth, special agent in charge of Timber Physics. Under the direction of B. E. Fernow, 
Chief of Division of Forestry. Pp. 88, flgs. 49. 1895. 

No. 11. Some Foreign Trees for the Southern States. (Cork, Wattle Tree, Eucalyptus, Bamboo.) 
Prepared under direction of B. E. Fernow, Chief of Division of Forestry. Pp. 32, x^ls. 3. 1895. 

No. 13. Economic Designing of Timber Trestle Bridges, by A. L. Johnson, C. E. Pp. 57, figs. 
7. 1S96. 

No. 13. The Timber Pines of the Southern United States, by Chas. Mohr, Ph. D. Together 
with a Discussion of the Structure of their Wood, by Filibert Eoth. Prepared under the direction 
of B. E. Fernow, Chief of Division of Forestry. Pp. 160, pis. 27, figs. 18. 1896. 

No. 14. Nomenclature of the Arborescent Flora of the United States, by George B. Sudworth, 
deudrologist of the Division of Forestry. Prepared under the direction and with an Introduction 
by B. B. Fernow, Chief of Division of Forestry. Pp. 8, 419. 1897. 

No. 15. Forest Growth and Sheep Grazing in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon, by Frederick 
V. Coville. Pp. 54. 1898. 

No. 16. Forestry Conditions and Interests of Wisconsin, by Filibert Eoth, special agent. 
With a discussion of objects and methods of ascertaining forest statistics, etc., by B. E. Fernow, 
Chief of Division of Forestry. Pp. 70, map of forest distribution in Wisconsin. 1898. 

No. 17. Check List of the Forest Trees of the United States, their Names and Rangi-s, by 
George B. Sndworth, deudrologist of the Div^ision of Forestry. Prepared under the direction of 
B. E. Fernow, Chief of Division of Forestry. Pp. 144. 1898. 

No. 18. Experimental Tree Planting in the Plains, by Charles A. Keffer, assistant chief of the 
Division. Prejiared under the-direction of B. E. Fernow, Chief of Division of Forestry. Pp. 94, 
pis. 5, figs. 1. 1898. 

No. 19. Osier Culture, by John M. Simpson. Prepared under the direction of B. E. Fernow, 
Chief of Division of Forestry. Pp. 27. 1898. 

No. 20. Measuring the Forest Crop, by A. K. Mlodziansky. Prepared under the direction of 

B. E. Fernow, Chief of Division of Forestry. Pp. 70, figs. 16. 1898. 

No. 21. Systematic Plant Introduction, by David A. Fairchild, special agent. Prepared under 
the direction of B. E. Fernow, Chief of Division of Forestry. Pp. 24. 1898. 

No. 22, The White Pine, a monograph, by V. M. Spaulding. Ee vised and enlarged by B. E. 
Fernow, with contributions by Filibert Eoth and F.A.Chittenden. (In press.) 

No. 23. The Uses of Wood in Mining and in the Charcoal Iron Industries, by John Birkinbine, 

C. E. With a discussion of methods of forest management applicable to woodlands subserving 
these industries by B. E. Fernow, Chief of Division of Forestry. (In press.) 

CIRCULARS OF INFORMATION. 

No. 1. Eequest to Educators for Cooiieration. 
No. 2. A Circular to Educational Men. 

No. 3. Increasing the Durability of Timber (information to wood consumers). Pp.4. 8°. 
No. 4. For Information of Eailroad Managers (use of chestnut oak for railroad ties). Pp. 3. 4°. 
No. 5. Arbor Day Planting in Eastern States. Pj). 4. 4°. 
No. 6. Instructions for Growing Tree Seedlings. Pp. 4. 4°. 
No. 7. The Government Timber Tests. Pp. ^. 8°. 
No. 8. Strength of "Boxed" or " Turpentine" Timber. Pp. 4. 8°. 
No. 9. Effect of Turpentine Gathering on the Timber of Longleaf Pine. P. 1. 8°. 
No. 10. Suggestions to the Lumbermen of the United States in Behalf of More Eational Forest 
Management. Pp. 8. 8°. 

No. 11. Facts and Figures Eegarding Our Forest Eesources, Briefly Stated. Pp. 8. 8°. 

No. 12. Southern Pine : Mechanical and Physical Properties. Pp. 12. 4°. 

No. 13. Forest Fire Legislation in the United States. Pp. 8. 8'^. 

No. 14. Is Protection Against Forest Fires Practicable? Pp. 4. 8°. 

No. 15. Snmmaryof Mechanical Tests on Thirty-two Species of American Woods. Pp.12. 4°. 

No. 16. Age of Trees and Time of Blazing Determined by Annual Eiugs. Pi>. 11. 8°. 



42 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

No. 17. Eecent Legislation on State Forestry Commissions and Forest Reserves. Pp. 16. 8°. 

IsTo. 18. Progress in Timber Physics: Influence of Size on Test Eesults; Distribution and 
Effect on Strength of Moisture; Maximum Uniformity of Wood; Eelation of Compression End- 
wise Strength to Breaking Load of Beam. Pp. 20. 4°. 

ISTo. 19. Progress in Timber Physics: Bald Cypress. Pp.24. 4°. 

No. 20. Increasing the Durability of Timber. Pp. 5. 8°. 

CHARTS. 

I 

The lessons of erosion due to forest destruction. Three colored charts, 30J by 4SJ inches, 
showing: (1) How the farm is lost; (2) how the farm is regained; (3) how the farm is retained. 
1896. 

REPORTS ON FOEESTRT. 

Vol. I. Eeport upon Forestry, prepared under the direction of the Commissioner of Agricul- 
ture, in pursuance of an act of Congress approved August 15, 1876. By Franklin B. Hough. 
Pp. 650. Index. 1878. 

Vol. II. Eeport upon Forestry, prepared under the direction of the Commissioner of Agricul- 
ture, in pursuance of an act of Congress ai^proved August 15, 1876. By Franklin B. Hough. 
Pp. 618. Index. 1880. 

Vol. III. Eeport upon Forestry, x^repared under the direction of the Commissioner of Agri- 
culture, in i)ursu.ince of an act of Congress approved August 15, 1876. By Franklin B. Hough. 
Pp. 318. Index. 1882. 

Vol. IV. Eeport njion Forestry, prepared by N. H. Eggleston. Pp. 421. Index. 1 map. 1884. 

ANNUAL REPORTS OP CHIEF OP DIVISION OF FORESTRY. 

[For years 1884-1893, inclusive, in annual reports of the Secretary of Agriculture for those 
years. For years 1894-1896, inclusive, in messages and documents for those years. For 1897, in 
annual reports of Department of Agriculture for 1897. 

Same, issued separately in pamphlet form for the years 1886, 1887, 1888, 1889, 1890, 1891, 1892, 
1893, 1894, 1895, 1896, 1897. 

From 1894 these reports refer only to administrative business ; before that year they contain 
technical matter.] 

The following subjects are more fully treated in these reports: 
Eeport for 1886 — 

Forestry problems of the United States. 

General iirinciples of forestry. 

List of ninety most important timber trees of the United States. 

Osier culture. 
Eeport for 1887. (Special, not iirinted in report of Department of Agriculture) — 

Trade notes and tariff on lumber — mill capacity of United States. 

Systematic plan of forestry work. 

Tree notes. 

Condition of forestry interests in the States. 
Eeport for 1888— 

Forest influences. 

Cultural and trade notes. 
Eeport for 1889— 

Seedling distribution. 

Timber-culture acts. 

Osier culture. 

Influence of forests on water supplies. 
Eeport for 1890— 

Wood-pulp industry. 

Tests of ISTorthern and Southern oak. 

Forestry education. 

Artificial rainfall. 



LIST OF FORESTRY PUBLICATIONS. 43 

Eeport for 1891— 

Forestry lectures. 

Poisoiiiiig of street trees. 

Bamboo as substitute for wood. 

Forest-planting experiments in Nebraska. 

Southern lumber pines. 

Forest reservations and their management. 
Eeport for 1892— 

Forest conditions of the United States and the forestry movement 

Forest-inre legislation. 

Eeport on Oliickamauga National Park. 

The naval-store industry. 
Eeport for 1893— 

Methods of forest measurement. 

Consumption and supply of forest, products iu the United States. 

German forest management. 

ABTICLBS EEPEINTED FROM YEAEBOOKS. 

From Yearbook, 1894: 

Forestry for farmers. By B. E. Fernow. Pp. 40, figs. 15. 
From Yearbook, 1895: 

The relation of forest to farms. By B. E. Feruovs^. Pp. 8. 

Tree planting on the Western plains. By Ghas. A. Keffer. Pp. 20. 
From Yearbook, 1896: 

Tree planting in waste places on the farm. By Ghas. A. Keffer. Pp. 18. 

The uses of wood. By Filibert Eoth. Pp. 30, figs. 7. 
From Yearbook, 1897 : 

Division of forestry; relation of its work to the farmer. By B. E.Fernow, chief. Pp. 20. 

Trees of the United States important in Forestry. By Geo. B. Sudworth. Pp. 26. 

FAEMEES' BULLETIN. 

No. 67. Forestry for farmers. Pp. 48, figs. 15. 

MISCELLANEOTTS PUBLICATIONS. 

Catalogue of the Forest Trees of the United States which usually attain a height of 16 feet 
or more, with uotes and brief descriptions of the more important species. 1876. Pp. 38. 

Preliminary Eeport on the Forestry of the Mississippi Valley and Tree Planting on the Plains. 
By F. P. Baker and E. W. Furnas. Pp. 45. 1883. 

Arbor Day, its History and Observance. By N. H. Egleston. Pp. 80, figs. 12. 1896. 

Miscellaneous Special Eeport No. 5. The proper vahie and management of Government 
timber lands and the distribution of North American forest trees, being papers read at the United 
States Department of Agriculture May 7 and 8, 1884. Pp. 47. 1884. 

Miscellaneous Eeport No. 10. A descriptive catalogue of manufactures from native woods, 
as shown in the exhibit of the United States Department of Agriculture at the World's Industrial 
and Cotton Exposition at New Orleans, La. By Charles Eichards Dodge. Pp. 81. 1886. 

Trees of Washington, D. C. By B. E. Fernow and Geo. B. Sudworth. Unp. pi. 1891. 

Forestry in the United States. By B. E. Fernow. Report of United States commissioners 
to the Universal Exposition of 1889 at Paris. Vol, V, pp. lil-TJl, pis. 6. 1891. 

Timber physics. — Preliminary report: Need of investigation. By B. E. Fernow. (From For- 
estry Bui. No. 6.) Quarto, 16 pp. 1892. 

Letter to the Secretary of Agriculture regarding Forest Growth and Timber Consumption. 
By B. E. Fernow. Pp. 3. 1893. 

Instructions for the Collection of Test Pieces of Pines for Timber Investigations, n. d. Pp. 4. 

List of Publications relating to Forestry in the Department Library. Prepared under the 
direction of the Librarian. Pp. 93. 1898. 



44 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

STATEMENTS BEFORE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES AND IN ANST\TEE TO SENATE RESOLUTIONS. 

Statement on the relation of irrigation problems to forest conditions by B. E. Fernow, 
before Special Senate Committee on Irrigation and Reclamation of Arid Lands. Fifty-first 
Congress, first session. Senate Eeport Ko. 928, vol. 4, 1890. Pp. 112-124. 

Statements in Keport 'So. 1002, Fifty-second Congress, first session. (To accompany S. 3235) 
"to provide for the establishment, protection, and administration of pnblic forest reservation, and 
for other purposes." Pp. 12. 1892. 

Senate Document No. 172, Fifty-third Congress, second session. Letter from the Secretary 
of Agriculture . . . transmitting information in relation to investigations and experiments in the 
planting of native pine seed in the sand hills of the Northwest. Pp.14. 8°. 1894. 

Statements in House Eeport No. 1442, Fifty-third Congress, second session. Investigations 
and Tests of American Timbers. Pp. 4. 1894. 

Statements in House Eeport No. 897. Public Forest Eeservations. Pp. 23. 1894. 

Statement of B. E. Fernow, Chief of Forestry Division, to the Committee on Agriculture, 
House of Eepresentatives, [in support of H. R. 8389, and H. E. 8390, providing for forestry schools] 
February 16, 1895. Pp 4. 

Senate Document No. 40, Fifty-fifth Congress, first session: White-Pine Timber Supplies. 
Statement prepared by the chief of the division. Letter of the Secretary of Agriculture. Pp. 
21, 1897. 



C. FORESTS AND FORESTRY IN THE UNITED STATES. 



The following brief account of tlie forest conditions of the United States; of the trees of 
economic value which compose its forests; of the materials iu kind and quantity which they 
furnish; and of the status of the movement for the introduction of forestry principles iu their use, 
is brought together mainly from scattered data published by the Division of Forestry and from 
other sources. 

ORiaiNAi Condition of Forest Akeas. 

The territorial distribution of forest areas iu the United States, and indeed on the whole 
contiuent, can be divided with more or less precision into three grand divisions: 

(1) The Atlantic forest, covering mountains and valleys in the East, reaching westward to the 
Mississippi Eiver and beyond to the Indian Territory aiul south into Texas, an area of about 
1,361,330 square miles, mostly of mixed growth, hard woods and conifers, with here and there 
large areas of coniferous growth aloue — a vast and continuous forest. 

(2) The mountain forest of the West, or Pacific forest, covering the higher elevations below 
timber line of the Eocky Mountains, Sierra Nevada, and Coast Eauge, which may be estimated at 
181,015 square miles, almost exclusively of coniferous growth, of enormous development on the 
northern Pacific coast, more or less scattered in the interior and to the south. 

(3) The prairies, plains, lower elevations, and valleys of the West, with a scattered tree 
growth, on which, whether from climatic, geologic, or other causes, forest growth is confined 
mostly to the river bottoms or other favorable situations, an area of about l,427,<t55 square miles, 
of which 276,005 square miles may be considered under forest cover of deciduous species east 
of theEockies and of coniferous and deciduous species in the west of this divide. 

Until the present century, in fact until nearly the last half of it, the activity of man on this 
continent has practically been confined to the eastern portion, which, as stated, was originally 
covered with a dense or at least continuous forest. The substructure of the entire civilization of 
the United States was hewn out of these i^rimeval woodlands. 

Out of the vast virgin forest area of the eastern half of the country there have been 
cleared for farm use during this time 250,000,000 acres, or 400,000 square miles, leaving about 
961,330 square miles covered actually or nominally with forest growth or waste. 

Timber being a great obstacle to the settlement of the land, and the market for it until 
recently being confined and limited, a large amount had to be wasted and disposed of in the log 
pile, where the flames made quick work of the scrub as well as of the finest walnut trees. 

The settlement of the western mountain country, although emigration to Oregon began in 
1812, assumed proportions of practical importance only when the gold fever took many travelers 
over the plains and mountains to California in 1819 and the following years. If only the legiti- 
mate need of the population of this region for cleared land and for timber had made drafts upon 
the forest resources, the chauge iu forest conditions would have been insignificant, but the 
recklessness which the carelessness of pioneer life and seemingly inexhaustible resources 
engender has resulted in the absolute destruction by fire of many thousand square miles of forest 
growth and the deterioration iu (quality and future promise of as many thousands more. 

The third region, the so-called "treeless area," has experienced, since the advent of the white 
settlers and the driving out of the Indians, changes which are almost marvelous. The prairies 
were reached by settlers iu any considerable number only as late as the third and fourth decades 

45 



46 



FOKESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



of tbis century, but they and tlieir successors have not only occupied a farm area of 80,000,000 
productive acres, but they have also dotted the open country with groves, smaller or larger, either 
by planting them or, by keeping out fire and cattle, aiding the natural reforestation. 

Present Condition. 

The requirements of the settlement of agricultural lands, then, have necessitated the removal 
of the forest from about 250,000,000 acres. But in addition two other causes — fire and wood con- 
sumption — have reduced the really forest-bearing area still further. While the larger amount of 
wood products is not secured by clearing lands, but mostly by culling the virgin forest of the 
best kinds and the best individual trees, so that at least a woodgrowth more or less valuable 
continues to occupy the ground, many of these areas are so severely culled that they are of no 
economic value. Especially when, as is often the case, fires follow the operations of the lumber- 
men, not only the old timber and the young growth, but the mold, the fertility of the soil, a 
product of centuries of decaying vegetation, is also destroyed and the ground is occuiiied by weeds 
and useless brush. If left to itself and no lires recurring, these wastes may again become valu- 
able forests, but this recuperation will take generations if not centuries before an economic value 
attaches to the area. Thus in Wisconsin, as we will see further on, at least 4,000,000 acres have 
been turned into veritable desert by these j)rocesses. 

It will be readily understood that if we consider forests from the economic point of view as wood- 
lands either containing or i^romising for the future wood of useful kinds, not merely tree weeds and 
brush, we must classify and distinguish with more precision than merely into farm and forest. 

The farm areas are ascertained by the census. But of the balance of areas we have no precise 
knowledge as to its condition, whether virgin and valuable forest growth or a useless and more 
than useless brush growth occupies them, preventing reestablishmeut of desirable growth, or 
whether it is waste, but open country. 

l^ot only should we know the timber areas which contain supplies ready for the ax and for 
present consumption, but in the so-called second gTowth we must distinguish the areas which 
promise new supplies of value and those brush lands which are not only not growing a new timber 
crop, but, on the contrary, prevent the growth of timber and will for generations to come be mere 
waste lands. 

The census authorities have never had a conception of these differences, hence we are without 
precise knowledge of the condition of things. It is to be hoped that for the next census, in the 
year 1900, provision will be made to arrive at this knowledge with some precision, under such a 
plan as outlined in Bulletin 16 of the Division of Forestry, the results of which for the State of 
Wisconsin appear at the end of this rei)ort. 

Meanwhile, a canvass of the available information has enabled the Division of Forestry to 
estimate the present conditions (1S93), as represented by the following tabulation, giving the 
approximated relation of improved land, forest, and waste land : 

Improved and forest land in the United States. 





Area. 


Per cent. 




lotal land 
surface. 


Improved 
laud in 
farms. 


Improved 
land. 


Brusli, 

forest. 

and waste 

land. 


Probably 
forest. 


Erusli 
laud. 


Open 
country. 




Acres. 
1, 900, 800, 000 


Acrc.^. 
357, 016, 000 


18 


83 


26 












Miino 


19, 132. 000 
5, 783, 000 
5, 846, 000 
5, 155, 000 
694, 000 
3,100,000 


3, 044, 000 

1, 727, 000 

2, 655. 000 
1, 057, 000 

274, 000 
1, 379, 000 


15 
29 
45 
32 
39 
44 


85 
71 
55 
08 
60 
65 


64 
62 

42 
29 
40 
29 

































1 








39, 710, 000 


10, 730, 000 


27 


73 


52 


I 








30. 370. 000 
28, 790. 000 
4, 071, 000 
1, 254, 000 
6,3)0,000 


16, 389, 000 
13, 210, 000 

1, 999, 000 
762, 000 

3,412,000 


54 
45 
42 
60 
64 


46 
65 
58 
40 
46 


30 
24 
41 
24 


















Delaware 




















71,401,000 


35, 772, 000 


50 


60 


28 


1 




1 



PRESENT CONDITION OF FOREST AREAS. 



47 



Improved and forest land in the United States — Continued, 





Area. 1 


Per cent. 




Total land 
surface. 


IraprOTed 
land in 
farma. 


Improved 
land. 


Brush, 

forest, 

and waste 

land. 


Probably 
forest. 


Brush 
land. 


Open 
country. 




Acres. 
25, 680, 000 
31, 089, 000 
19, 308, 000 
38, 047, GOO 


Acres. 
9, 125, 000 
7, 828, 000 
5, 255, 000 
9, 582, 000 


35 
25 
27 
24 


05 
75 
73 
76 


48 
54 
45 
50 
























^sor^ia 








111,724,000 


31,790,000 


27 


73 


49 














225,835,000 


78, 298, 000 


35 


65 


43 














34, 713, 000 
32, 986, 000 
29, 058, 000 
29, 069, 000 


1, 145, 000 
7, 698, 000 
6, 849, 000 
3, 775, 000 


3 
23 
23 
13 


97 , 

77 
77 
87 


58 
53 

44 
45 
































126, 426, 000 


19, 407, 000 


18 


84 


50 














167, 808, 000 


20, 746, 000 


12 


88 


23 














36, 755, 000 
34, 848, OUO 
60, 691, 000 


9, 865, OUO 
9, 793, 000 
11, 128, 000 


26 
28 
21 


74 
72 
79 


50 
47 
36 


























122, 294, 000 


30, 786, 000 


25 


75 


43 


1 








26, 086, 000 
22, 982, 000 
35, 840, 000 


18, 338, 000 
15, 107, 000 
25, 669, 000 


71 
65 

71 


29 
35 
29 


16 
15 
10 


























84, 908, 000 


69,114,000 


69 


31 


13 














207, 202, 000 


89, 900, 000 


43 


57 


31 














15, 772, 000 

25, 600, 000 

26, 720, 000 
33,949,000 
43, 990, 000 


4, 554, 000 
11,819,000 

9, 362, 000 

5, 475. 000 
19, 792, 000 


28 
40 
35 
10 
45 


72 
54 
65 
84 
55 


62 
43 
65 
60 
36 






































146, 031, OUO 


61, 002, 000 


35 


65 


48 












lo-wi 


35, 504, 000 
45, 308, 000 
49, 090, 000 
42, 998, 000 
52, 288, 000 
24, 960, 000 


25,429,000 
4, 058, 000 
6, 959, 000 
15,247,000 
22, 303, 000 
564, 000 


71 
10 
14 
34 
42 


29 
90 
86 
65 
63 
98 


13 
1 
2 
3 

7 














































250, 754, 000 


75,160,000 


30 


70 


4 














396, 785. 000 

92, 998, 000 
62, 448, OUO 
66, 332, 000 
78, 374, 000 


120, 162, 000 

915, OUO 

476, OUO 

1, 823, 000 

263, 000 


32 


68 


20 














1 

0-7 
2-7 
0-3 


99 
99 
97 
99 


18 
12 
16 
G 


20 
16 
21 
21 




"Wvcmiius 


















300,154,000 


3, 477, 000 


1 


99 


13 


20 










53, 945, 000 
70, 233, 000 
62,001,000 
72, 268, 000 


606, 000 
723, 000 
548, OOU 
104, 000 


1 
1 
1 
01 


99 
99 
99 
99-9 


20 


40 
9 
27 
12 










16 
14 














249, 047, 000 


1, 981, 000 


0-7 


99-3 


8 


22 










549,201,000 


5, 458, UOO 


1 


99 


10 


21 










99, 827, 000 
60,518,000 
42, 703, 000 


12, 222, 000 
3, 510, 000 
1, 820, 000 


12 
6 
4 


88 
94 
96 


18 
34 
55 


27 
28 
21 


















203, 048, 000 


17, 558, 000 


8 


92 


30 


27 









KOTE. — The aathority i'or the area of improved farm land is furnished by the census of 1890. The areas of forest, brush, and "waste 
lands were ascertained by subtractinfr the area of cultivated land from the total land areas of the several States, and are placed as per cent 
of the total areas in column 4. The part of these supposed to be forest is estimated on information obtained by various a<::encie3. For the 
"western section of the couuti-y the further subdivision into forest, brush, and open country is based partly on statistics gathered by Colonel 
Ensiy:n and published iu Bulletin 2 of the Division of Forestry, and partly on the map republished from the report of the Division for 1892. 

These figures would indicate that, iu round numbers, less than 350,000,000 acres are turned 
into farm lands, more than two-thirds of which was hewn out of the forest; that the productive 
area of forest growth, by no means all virgin, falls somewhat below 500,000,000 acres; that nearly 
450,000,000 acres are open country, which is presumably incapable of producing any valuable 
forest growth on account of climatic deficiencies, leaving a balance of over 000,000,000 acres as 
waste and brush laud, of which at least three-fourths have been made so by the combined efforts 
of ax and fire. 



48 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

It will appear astonishing to tliose wlio have not paid attention to the question of the settle- 
ment of this country to learn from the above table that while of the total country only 18 per 
cent is improved, and for every acre of farm land in the forested country we have destroyed 
nearly three acres of forest growth, tlie better developed eastern part (east of Colorado) shows 
only 29 per cent improved, and even the long-settled Atlantic coast, which we are apt to consider 
fully occupied, still possesses 65 per cent of unimproved land, of which we estimate 43 per cent 
as woodland, while the iiercentage of woodland for the whole country is 26. There would be wood- 
land enough to satisfy our needs for many decades if attention were but paid to its rational use 
and to the recuperation of the cut-over areas; but the condition of the wooded areas, which have 
been culled, is well known to be so poor, as far as market supplies are concerned, that for genera- 
tions to come they must be left out of consideration. 

The accompanying map (PI. I) shows by various grades of color the approximate relative 
proportion of forest to total area, and the character of the merchantable kinds of lumber that are 
derived from the different regions is indicated. 

A second map (PI. II) shows more iu detail the condition of that section of the country west 
of the ninety-seventh degree of longitude, which, being largely situated in the dry region, requires 
greatest attention to conservative forest use and contains still large areas of public timber lands. 
The information is derived from members of the United States Geological Survey and others 
acquainted with the region. It must not be overlooked, however, that these are not accurate 
surveys, but approximations, and that a large iier cent, often from 25 to 50 per cent of the area 
falling within the timber land or brush-laud area, is prairie, open country, waste land, or in culti- 
vation. The location and size of the national forest reservations, first made under the act of March 
3, 1891, have also been outlined on this map, suggesting a desirable extension of this policy which 
has since been had. 

The figures and maps show the very uneven distribution of the forest areas, which is an 
important fact from an economic point of view. Seven-tenths are found on the Atlantic side of 
the continent, only one-tenth on the Pacific coast, another tenth on the Eocky Mountains, the 
balance being scattered over the interior of the Western States. 

Both the New England States and the Southern States have still 50 per cent of their area, 
more or less, under forest cover, but in the former the merchantable timber has been largely 
removed. 

The prairie States, with an area in round numbers of 400,000 square miles, contain hardly 4 
per cent of forest growth, and the 1,330,000 square miles — more than one- third of the whole 
country — of arid or semiarid character in the interior contain i^ractically no forest growth, 
economically speaking. 

The character of the forest growth also varies iu the difl'ereut regions, as we will presently see 
more in detail. On the Pacific coast, hard woods are rare, the i^rincipal growth being coniferous 
and of extraordinary development. Besides gigantic redwoods, the soft sugar pine and the hard 
bull pine, various sj)ruces and firs, cedars, hemlocks, and larch form the valuable supplies. 

In the Eocky Mountains no hard woods of commercial value occur, the growth being mainly 
of spruces, firs, and bull pine, with other pines and cedars of more or less value. 

The Southern States contain in their more southern section large areas occupied almost 
exclusively by pine forests, with the cypress in the bottom lands; the more northern portions are 
covered with hard woods almost exclusively, and intervening is a region of mixed hard-wood and 
coniferous growth. Spruces, firs, and hemlocks are found iu small quantities confined to the 
mountain regions. 

The ISTorthern States are mainly occupied by hard-wood growths, with conifers intermixed, 
sometimes the latter becoming entirely dominant, as in the spruce forests of Maine, New Hamj^- 
shire, or the Adirondacks, and here and there in the pineries of Michigan, Wisconsin, and 
Minnesota, or in the hemlock regions of Pennsylvania and New York. 

FoEEST Botanical Description. 

As stated before, we may divide the North American forest according to its botanical features 
into two great forest regions, namely, the Atlantic, which is in the main characterized by broad- 
leaved trees, and the Pacific, which is made up almost wholly of coniferous species. (See PL III.) 

In the Atlantic forest, going from the south to the north, we can again discern several floral 



PLATE II. 




H Doc 181 55 3 




MAP 

Showing the Types 
ofttie 

North American Forests 

EXCLUSIVE OE MEXICO- 



PRESENT CONDITION OF FOEEST AREAS. 49 

subdivisions, each of which shows special characteristics. The southernmost coast and keys of 
Florida, although several degrees north of the geographical limit of the Tropics, present a truly 
tropical forest, rich in the species of the West Indian liora, which here finds a most northern 
extension. There is no good reason for calling this outpost semitropical, as is done on Professor 
Sargent's map in the work for the Tenth Census. With the mahogany, the mastic, the royal 
palm, the mangrove, the sea grape and some sixty more West India species represented, it is 
tropical in all but its geographical position. That the northern flora joins the tropic forest here, 
and thus brings together on this insignificant spot some hundred species, nearly one-quarter of all 
the species found in the Atlantic forest, does not detract from its tropical character. 

On the other hand, we may speak with good reason of a subtropical forest north of this 
region ; for here, where the live oak and water oak, the magnolias, the bay tree, and holly, and many 
other broad-leaved trees, mixed with the sabal and dwarf palmetto, retain their green foliage all 
through winter, we are forcibly impressed with the semitropic character of this region, which, under 
the influence of the Gulf stream, extends in a narrow belt of some 20 or 25 miles width along the 
the coast as far north as North Carolina. 

While this evergreen broad-leaved forest is more or less confined to the rich hammocks and 
moister situations, the poor sand soils of this as well as of the more northern region are occuijied 
by pines; and as these, especially the long-leaf pine, are celebrated all over the world and give 
the great mercantile significance to these forests, we may well speak of this region from an 
economic point of view as the "great southern pine belt." North of the " winter-green," subtropic 
forest stretches the vast deciduous-leaved forest of the Atlantic, nowhere equaled in the temj)erate 
regions of the world in extent and perfection of form, and hardly in the number of species. This 
designation applies to the entire area uj) to the northern forest belt, for again the region formerly 
segregated on the census map as the northern pine belt is still in the main the dominion of the 
deciduous-leaved forest, with the pines, and in some parts spruces, intermixed, or on certain soils, 
especially on the gravelly drifts and drier sands, become gregarious, even to the exclusion of other 
species, as on the pine barrens of northern Michigan and the pineries of Wisconsin and Minne- 
sota, which are occupied by two or three species of pine exclusively (white pine, red pine, jack 
pine). This deciduous-leaved forest may, however, be divided by a line running somewhere below 
the fortieth degree of latitude, where, with the northern limits of the southern magnolias and other 
species, we may locate in general the northern limit of the southern forest flora. Northward from 
here, in what we may call the "Middle Atlantic forest," the deciduous species become less 
numerous and coniferous growth becomes soon more so, until we arrive at the broad belt of the 
northern forest, which, crossing from the Atlantic to the Pacific, composed of only 8 hardy species, 
takes its stand against the frigid breath and icy hands of Boreas. 

Abounding in streams, lakes, and swampy areas, the low divides of this region are occupied by 
an open stunted forest of black and white spruce, while the bottoms are held by balsam firs, larch 
or tamarack, jioplars, dwarf birches, and willows. The white spruce, paper or canoe birch, balsam, 
poi)lar, and aspen find congenial conditions, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, over the whole 
continent. 

On the Pacific side the subdivisions of the coniferous forest are rather ranked from west to 
east. Tbe Pacific interior forest on the Rocky Mountains is wrestling with the drougthy atmos- 
phere of the plains and Interior Basin. 

Here on the driest parts, where the sage brush finds its home, the ponderous bull pine is the 
foremost tree, and where even this hardy tree can not succeed in the Interior Basin an eastern 
ally, the red cedar (now difterentiated into different species), holds the fort in company -with the 
nut pine, small and stunted, covering with an open growth the mesas and lower mountain slo])es. 
On the higher and therefore moister and cooler elevations, and especially northern and north- 
western exposures, and in the narrow canyons where evaporation is diminished and the soil is 
fresher, the somber Douglas, Engelmann, and blue spruces and the silver-foliaged white fir join 
the pines or take their place. 

With few exceptions the same species, only of better development, are found in the second 

parallel which occupies the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada. Additional forces here strengthen 

the ranks; the great sugar pine, two noble firs, a mighty larch, hemlocks and cedars, arborvitais, 

and the big sequoias. The third parallel, the forest of the Coast Range, the most wonderfully 

H. Doc. 181 4 



50 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 

developed althougli far from being the most varied of this contiuent, is characterized by the red- 
wood, the tideland or Sitka spruce, hemlock, and giant arborvitre. 

Broad-leaved trees are not absent, but so little developed in comparison with the mighty conifers 
that they play no conspicuous part except along the river bottoms, where maples, cottonwood, ash, 
and alder thi-ive, and in the narrow interior valleys and slopes an open growth of oak is found. 
Toward the south and on the lower levels the broad-leaved trees again become evergreen as on 
the Atlantic side, and with a new tribe of pines, with large hooked cones added, form a subtropic 
flora. 

Finally to the south, analogously to the extension of the tropical West Indian flora in Florida, 
we find a northern extension of the Mexican forest, mingled with which species from the Pacific 
forest on the west and from the Atlantic on the east. The mesquite and some acacias, the tree 
yuccas, and the giant or tree cactus are perhaps the most characteristic and remarkable species 
of the deserts of this region, while the high mountains support dense forests of firs and pines. 

This distribution of forest types is exhibited on the accompanying map. Besides the botanical 
and geographical interest it has an eminently practical interest to the forester, because it shows 
him the limits within which he may expect to produce satisfactory results with the species of trees 
composing the forest in each section. 

While a vast territory on the Atlantic side and a narrower belt on the Pacific coast, connected 
by a broad belt through the northern latitudes, bears the forest growth thus differentiated, with 
the crest and slopes of the Eocky Mountains forming an intermediate extension from the jSTorthern 
belt, there is a vast emx^ire in the interior without forest growth, although not entirely without 
tree growth, the prairies and plains. 

Of parts of this territory we feel reasonably certain from strong evidences that the forest once 
occupied them, but has been driven off by aboriginal man, the firebrand taking sides with the 
grasses, and the buflalo probably being a potent element in preventing reestablishment. In other 
parts it is questionable whether the lines along the river courses, the straggling trees on the pla- 
teaus and slopes, are remnants of a vanquished army or outposts of an advancing one. In some 
parts, like the dry mesas, plateaus, and arroyos of the interior basin, and the desert like valleys 
toward the southern frontiers, it may reasonably be doubted whether arborescent flora has more 
than begun its slow advance from the outskirts of the established territory. 

Certain it is that climatic conditions in these forestless regions are most unfavorable to tree 
growth, and it may well be questioned whether in some parts the odds are not entirely against the 
progress of the forest. 

Temperature and moisture conditions of air and soil determine ultimately the character of 
vegetation, and these are dependent not only on latitude, but largely on configuration of the land, 
and especially on the direction of moisture-bearing winds with reference to the trend of mountains. 

The winds from the Pacific Ocean striking against the Coast Kange are forced by the compres- 
sion and subsequent cooling to give up much of their moisture on the windward side; a second 
imj^act and further condensation of the moisture takes place on the Cascade Eange and Sierra 
Nevada. On descending, with consequent expansion, the wind becomes warmer and drier, so that 
the interior basin, without additional sources of moisture and no additional cause for condensation, 
is left without much rainfall and with a very low relative humidity, namely, below 50 per cent. 
The Eocky Mountains finally squeeze out whatever moisture remains in the air currents, which 
arrive proportionally drier on the eastern slope. This dry condition extends over the plains until 
the moist currents from the Gulf of Mexico modify it. Somewhat corresponding, yet not quite, to 
this distribution of moisture, the western sloi^es are found to be better wooded than the eastern, 
and the greater difficulty of establishing a forest cover here must be admitted; yet since the forest 
has the capacity of creating its own conditions of existence by increasing the most important 
factor of its life, the relative humidity, the extension of the same may only be a question of time. 

Temperature extremes, to be sure, also set a limit to tree growth, and hence the so-called tim- 
ber line of high mountains, which changes in altitude according to the latitude. 

If, now, we turn our attention from the phyto-geographic consideration of the forest cover to 
the botanical features, we may claim that the I^Torth American forest, with -150 or more arborescent 
species, belonging to 158 genera, many of which are truly endemic, surpasses in variety of useful 
species and magnificent development any other forest of the temx^erate zone, Japan hardly excepted. 



TREES OF THE UNITED STATES IMPORTANT IN FORESTRY. 51 

In addition there are probably nowhere to be seen such extensive flekls of distribution of single 
species. 

These two facts are probably explained by the north-and-south direction of the mountain 
ranges, which permitted a reestablishment after the Ice age of many species farther northward, 
while in Euroi^e and the main part of Asia the east-west direction of the mouutains offered an 
effectual barrier to such reestablishment, and reduced the number of species and their field of 
distribution ; nor are the climatic differences of different latitudes in North America as great as in 
Europe, which again predicates greater extent in the fields of distribution north and south. On 
the other hand, the differences east and west in floral composition of the American forest are 
greater than if an ocean had separated the two parts instead of the prairie and plains. This fact 
would militate against our theory that the intermediate forestless region was or would be eventu- 
ally forested with species from both the established forest regions, if we did not find some species 
represented in both regions and a junction of the two floras in the very region of the forestless 
areas. In the sand hills which traverse Nebraska from east to west there are now found in eastern 
counties the sand-drowned trunks of the western bull pine, and the same pine belonging to the 
Pacific flora is found associated with the black walnut of the eastern region along the Niobrara 
Eiver. 

Of the many species which in each of the forest regions compose the forest, only a limited 
number can be classed as economically valuable, although the question as to what is valuable is 
not one readily answered, since many trees which appeared valueless at first have proved their 
usefulness when better known br when the more serviceable timbers became scarcer. The trade 
papers quote at best only 35 to 40 kinds, of which only 10 to 12 are regular staples. In addition, 
some siDCcies possess value to the forester in his silvicultural operations, as nurses, soil cover, etc., 
which to the wood consumer appear only as tree- weeds. Finally, some species, like the lodgepole 
pine of the Northern Eocky Mountains, are most valuable from the national economic point of 
view, because covering large areas of mountain slopes, thereby not only furnishing wood supplies, 
albeit of an inferior character, to the resident population, but covering the watersheds and favorably 
influencing soil and water conditions. 

The selection of species to be considered economically valuable, therefore, must be, to some 
extent, arbitrary, and be guided by a variety of considerations in which those of the present may 
vary from those of the future. Tlie relative value of those selected may also change from time to 
time and from locality to locality. 

Thus for the present we can dismiss from consideration the 60 to 70 species of tropical origin; 
importations from the West Indies, found along the coast and keys of Florida in small quantities, 
as economically of little consequence on account of the small area which they do and can occupy. 

Another similar exclusion may be made of some species which overlap from the Mexican flora, 
some 26 or 27, with but a confined distribution in the United States. There remain then about 360 
species which call for a discriminating classification, and if we exclude all species which, as a rule, 
do not exceed 1 foot in diameter, we decrease this number again to, say, 235 species, which, possibly, 
may enter into the consideration of forest management and are of economic value. 

A full checklist of the entire arborescent flora is to be found (besides the magnificent work, 
the Silva, by Prof. C. S. Sargent, which describes this flora fully by word and i)icture) in Bulletin 
14 of the Division of Forestry, and a more condensed statement in Bulletin 18. For the present 
report, which is to consider economic questions mainly, the list given in the next few pages, being 
reproduced from the Annual lieport of the Division for 1886, somewhat revised, may suffice. 

Trees of the United States Impoktant in Forestry. 

[The relative value of the different species here enumerated is indicated in three classes hy dili'orence in type, as follows: First grade, 
WHITE PINE ; second grade, JEFl'EET PINE; third grade, PITCH PINE. 

The size stated refers to averages of mature trees ; the + sign denoting that larger dimensions are not uncommon.] 

A. CONIFERS. 

(Evergreen and needle-leafed trees, with a few exceptions.) 

The most valuable forest trees, as well on account of their usefulness as for their effects in forestry, due to the 
evergreen foliage of most of them persistent through several years; most capable of covering extensive areas exclu- 
sively, and with deciduous trees most excellent aids in forestry on account of their habit of growth and their soil- 



52 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



improving qualities; practically Bot capable of reproduction by sprouting from the stocks or cuttings; mostly 
periodical seeders; persistent growers. 

Pines. — The most useful conifers and most important forest trees, mostly of the plain; reaching desirable 
development in comparatively dry, even barren, situations. Mostly needing light; tolerably rapid growers; best 
on light sandy soils with clay subsoil. 

CharacierUtxcs, — Leaves arranged in twos, threes, or fives in one sheath; cones with thickened scales; seeds 
almond-shaped, nut-like, of mottled appearance, with their wings only lightly attached; maturing the second year, 
and preservin^ti their germinating power well. Sixty to seventy species, of which thirty-five are indigenous to the 
United States. 

Wood. — Very variable, very light and soft in "soft" pine, such as white pine; of medium weight to heavy and 
quite hard in "hard" pine, of which Longleaf or Georgia pine is the extreme form. Usually it is stiff, quite strong, 
of even texture, and more or less resinous. The sapwood is yellowish-white; the heartwood, orange-brown. Pine 
shrinks moderately, seasons rapidly and without much injury; it works easily; is never too hard to nail (unlike oak 
or hickory) ; it is mostly quite durable, and if well seasoned is not subject to the attacks of boring insects. The 
heavier the wood, the darker, stronger, and harder it is, and the more it shrinks and checks. Pine is used more 
extensively than any other kind of wood. It is the principal wood in common carpentry, as well as in all heavy 
construction, bridges, trestles, etc. It is also used in almost every other wood industry, for spars, masts, planks, 
and timbers in shipbuilding, in car and wagon construction, in cooperage, for crates and boxes, in furniture work, 
for toys and patterns, railway ties, water pipes, excelsior, etc. Pines are usually large trees with few branches, the 
straight, cylindrical, useful stem forming by far the greatest part of the tree; they occur in vast forests, a fact 
which greatly facilitates their utilization. 

List of one hundred species of ircea of the United States most valuable for Umber, with notes on their range of distribution, 
cultural requirt-menis, and the character and uses of their wood. 



Name of species and limit of a 



Regie 



J of abundant growtli. 



Soil and climate, and characteristics of growtli . 



1. iTiiiTE fiive: 



inus strobus Linn.) 

Height, 120 feet + ; dia 
3 feet + . 



2. REO PINE . 



(Norway Pine.) 
(Pinus resinosa Ait.) 

Height, 100 feet + ; dianit- n r 
2h feet +. 

3. PITCH PIXE 

{Pi7ius Hgida Miller.) 

Heiffht, 50 feet-|-; diameter, 
Ufe6t+. 



4. JACK PIXE 

(SCEUB Pine. Prince's Pine.) 
(Pinw* divaricata (Ait.) Gord.) 



5. SCRUB PIXE 

{Pinvs virgiiiiana Mill.) 

Height, 80 feet + ; diameter, 
2 feet+. 

6. LOIVOl^KAF PflVE 



(Southern Pine. Yellow 
Pine. Georgia Pine. Hard 
Pine.) 

{Pinus paUistri^ Miller.) 

Height, 100 feet + ; diam- 
eter, 2i feet-f . 



7. 9HORTLEAF PII¥E. 



(Pinus echinaia Miller.) 

ight, 90 
feet +. 



Greatest development from Slichi 
gau to Minnesota. 



Greatest development 
Lake Superior. 



Middle Atlantic region . 



South Atlantic and Gulf States., 



Middle Atlantic and Southern 
States; associated mostly with 
hardwood trees. 

Best development in western Lou- 
isiana, southern Arkansas, and 
eastern Texas. 



Best on light, sandy, fresh, deep soil, hut successful on a large 
range of soils from dry to moist. Kapid grower; endures 
some shade ; hardy, but little tolerant of drought. 

The most important conifer of the United States ; good quality, 
however, only in centenarians. Is best mixed with deciduous 
trees; of rather slow, biit liigli percentage of germination; 
plant one or two-year-old transplanted seedlings, or sow. 

Soils like tliose of "White Pine; adapted to many soils, but best 
quality of timber produced in well-drained sands. Extremely 
hardy; vigorous and rapid grower. 

Should be favored in northern and northeastern planting with 
White Pine and deciduous trees. So far, seed very expensive 
and difficult to obtain. 

Best on fresh to moist sand, but will succeed on dry, barren, 
sandy, or rocky soils, and even on wet, cold, swampy ground, 
or seacoasts liable to floods. 

A rapid grower, and when young hardy and iudiflFerent' to 
drought; light-needing; an early seeder; sprouts from the 
stump; not easily transplanted; best and easily propagated 
from seed: mainly for seacoast planting. 

Common on sandy, barren soil. 

Valuable only as first cover for northern pine-barrens. Rapid 
grower in its youth and easily handled ; very hardy, enduring 
heat and cold well; successful on the plains. 



Common on poor, dry, sandy, gravelly, and clayey soils; less 
frequent in rich soils. Moderately rapid grower, quicklj' 
taking possession of old, worn-out fields and washed lauds. 



Well-tjrained, loos*^, deep sandy loam.or gravel. 

The slow growth of first five years (quasi-endogenous) makes 
its forestry problematic; development dependent on atmos- 
pheric moisture; least shade-enduring of pines. 

Eare, but plentiful seeder; germinates freely; can therefore be 
propagated by sowing seed in permanent place. 

Most valuable pine of the South, but for best qualitj' requires 
long period of growth (two hundred years?)- 

More common 
swamps. 



light sandy soil than on low borders of 



A rather slow grower; will succeed on the poorest soil. Easily 
reproduced; good seeder; light-needing. 



LIST OF ONE HUNDRED TREES MOST VALUABLE FOR TIMBER. 



63 



List of one hundred species of trees of the United States most valuable for timber, with notes on their range of distrihufion , 
cultural requirements J and the character and uses of their wood — CoDtiuued. 



Name of species and limit of i 



EegioDs of abundant growth. 



Soil and climate, and characteristics of growth. 



CUBAIV PIIVE 



9. L.OBLOTiI'V PIIVE. 

{Old-field Pine.) 

{Piiius toedo Linn.) 

Height, 100: 
2ifeet+. 

10. SPRVGE PINE . 



{Pinua glabra Walter.) 



11. UDI.L PIIVE. 



{Pinu8 ponderosa Douglas.) 



Height, 200 feet+ ; diameter, 
12 feet +. 



12. BRISTLE-CONE PINE.. 

(Pinus aristata Engelm.) 



13. !!iUOAR PIIVE 

{Pinus lambei'tiana Doii;:!.) 



14. SILVER PINE . 



(Pinus ')n6nticola.) 

Height, 100 feet+ ; diameter, 
4 feet 4- . 



15. MONTEHEVPINE.... 
{Pinus radiata Don.) 



Southern and southeastern coast; 
local in swamps and near water 
courses. 

Best development in eastern Flor- 



Southeastcrn . 



Southeastern States . 



Best development in Alabama and 
Mississippi. 



Rocky Mountains to the Pacific, 
up to high elevations; forming 
forests. 

Best developed on western slope of 
Sierras of northern and central 
California. 



jocal — Rocky Mountains and 
southeastern Dalifornia ; above 
7,5UU feet. 



"Western Pacific slope. 



Best development in Sierras of 
central and northern California 
above 4,000 feet; lower in Ore- 
gon. 

Northern Rocky Moiintains and 
Western Pacific slope. 



Light sandy soil ; somewhat indifferent to drainage. 



Low, moist, or dry sandy soils and abandoned fields 
Adapted to a wide range of sites. 



Grows on better and moister soils than Pmus io?rfrt, especially on 
huiumucks and rich bottom laud.s; rare ; usually isolated or in 
groups. 

A rapid grower; shade-enduring. 



Dry rocky ridges and prairies, somelimes in swamps; but best 
in deep loamy sand. 

Vigorous, rapid grower; very hardy, except wbv.n quite young. 

idy, exposed places; succeeds on West- 



Well adapted to dry, ■ 
ern prairies. 



Dry, gravelly ridg 



sposurcs of the Western 



)ver of high elevations in southern Kocky 



Very rapid grower. 

Quite hardy in the East. 

Best Pine for reforestation in its native habitat. 

Similar to Sugar Pine, which it accompanies on the Pacific slope 



Light, well-drained soils, and on drifting snnds. 

Easily propagated; seed of very high percentage of germina- 
tion; very rapid grower. T^seful for reforesting Western 



II. Spruces. — Next in importance to the pines, though the wood is less resinous, weaker, and not so durable. 
Of northern or mountain habitat, in cool situations and moist soils; endures shade, and grows mostly with rapidity 
and persistency. Tlie Norway Spruce of Europe appears, so far, superior for forestry to the native species. 

Charactm'isties, — Leaves single, rigid, sharp-pointed, four-cornered, bristling mostly all around the twigs; cones 
oblong, hanging, with thin, persistent scales; seeds resembling those of the pines, but usually smaller, more uniform 
in color, and angular; mature the first year, and preserve power of germination well; mostly periodical, but seeds 
abundantly; crown pyramidal; about twelve species, of which five are indigenous. Spruce wood resembles soft 
piue, is light, soft, stiff, moderately strong, less resinous than pine; has no distinct heartwood, and is of whitish 
color; used like soft piue, but also employed as resonance wood, and preferred for paper pulp. Spruces, like pines, 
form extensive forests. They are more frugal, thrive on thinner soils, and bear more shade, but usually require a 
more humid climate. "Black" and "white" spruce, as applied by lumbermen, usually refer to narrow and wide 
ringed forms of the Black Spruce (Ficea mariana). 



54 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



List of one hundred species of trees of the United States most valuable for tiniber^ ivith notes on their range of distrihutionf 
cultural require^nenis, and the character and uses of their ivood — Coutiuued, 



Name of species and limit of size. 



Kegions of abundant gro^vtb. 



Soil and climate, and cbaracteristics of growth,. 



16. BLACK SPHUCE^ 



(Picea mariana (Mill.) B. S. P.). 



Height, 80 feet; diameter, 
Iifeet+. 



17. WHITE SPEUCE 

(Ficea canadensis (Mill.) B. S. P.) 



Height, 100 feet; diameter, 
U feet +. 



18. ENGELMANN SPKUCE 

(White Spruce.) 

(Picea engehnanni Engelm.) 



Mainly northeastern and extend- 
ing into Kocky Mountains; 
forming forests. 



Best developmentin central Rocky 
Mountain region, between 9,000 
and 10,000 feet. 



19. SITKA SPRUCE.. 

(Tide-land Spruce.) 
{Picea sitchensis CarriSre.) 



Light, dry, stony soils ; much smaller in cold, "wet swamps. 
Rapid grower. 



Like Black Spruce, but probably better adapted to -western 
planting, being hardier. 



Dry, gravelly slopes, 5,000 to 11,500 feet. 

A tree for reforestation of mountain slopes along water courses. 



Moist soil and climate, at least a moist subsoil, shady situ- 
ations. Rapid grower. 

Probably hardy in Northeastern and Middle States, in shaded 
positions. 



•Includes also the Red Spruce (Picea rubra), this being the principal timber spruce of the region. 

III. FiES. — Important to forestry mainly on account of their great endurance of shade. Of northern and moun- 
tain distribution ; still more dependent on moisture of climate and cool or at least evenly tempered situations than 
the spruces, and in their youth mostly less hardy j usually grow slowly, but persistently. Some exotics seem to he 
of more value thau the native species (Ahies nordmanniana). 

Characteristics. — Leaves single, flat, rather blunt, arranged somewhat comb-lite on the twigs. Cones cylindrical, 
standing erect on the branches; scales thiu, and falllug away when mature; seeds triangular, partly inclosed by a 
more or less persistent wing; mature first year, but do not preserve their power of germination well. Frequent and 
abundant seeders. Crown conical. About eighteen species, of which eight are indigenous. 

The name is frequently applied to wood and to trees which are not fir; most commonly to spruce, but also, 
especially in English markets, to pine. The wood resembles spruce in color, quality, and uses, but is easily distin- 
guished from it, as well as from pine and larch, by the absence of resin ducts. 



iN^ame of species and limit of size. 



Regions of abundant growth. 



Soil and climate, and characteristics of growth. 



20. "WHITE FIR 

(Balsam Fik. Black Balsam.) 
(Ahies concolor (Gord.) Parry.) 

Height, 100 feet + ; diameter, 

4 "feet H-. 

21. BALSAM FIR., , 

(Balm op Gilead Fir.) 

(Ahies balsatnea Miller.) 

Height, 70 feet + ; diameter, 
Ih feet +. 

22. GREAT SILVER FIR , 

("WmTE FiK.) 
{Ahies grandis Lindl.) 

Height, 200 feet; diameter, 

5 feet -H . 

23. NOBLE FIR 

(Ahies nohilis Liudl.) 

Height, 200 feet -I-; diameter, 
5feet-|-. 



Southwestern mountains and Pa- 
cific sloiie; high elevations. 



Northwestern coast 

Beat development in western 
Washington and Oregon, along 
river bottoms. 



Northwestern coast; wide range; 
always near mountain tops and 
high elevations ; found often in 
groves dispersed through exten- 
sive forrests. 

Best development in Sierra Nevada, 
from Columbia River to northern 
California. 



Moist slopes and canyons, between 3,000 and 9,000 feet; cool and 
shady situations. 



Cold, damp woods and swamps. 

Rapid grower. Valuable only as undergrowth or as 



and in imperfectly drained situations. 



occasional droughts than most firs. 



Probably hardy east of the Rocky Mountains, 
protection. 



Requiring moist atmosphere for best development. 



LIST OF ONE HUNDRED TREES MOST VALUABLE FOR TIMBER. 



55 



List of one hundred species of trees of ihe United States most valuable for timber, with notes on tlieir range of distrilmtion, 
cultural requirements, and the character aud uses of their jvood — Continued. 



Name of species and limit of size. 



? of abundant growtla. 



Soil and climate, and characteristics of growth. 



24. AlttABILIS FIE 

{Abies ainabilis (Loud.) Forbes.) 

Height, 100 feet + ; diameter, 

4feet+. 
According to others, 250 feet 

high and 5 feet in diameter. 



Northwestern coast, mostly asso- 
ciated with the preceding 
species. 

Best development on mountains 
south of the Columbia River; 
3,000 to 4,000 feet. 



Gravelly soils. 



Will probably prove h.ardy in Eastern States. 



IV. Bastard Spruces. — Under this name may be grouped tlie Hemlocks and Douglas Spruce, formerly classed 
with the spruces aud tirs projier. Mostly of northern distribution, and therefore best adapted to cool, moist 
situations; enduring considerable shade. Some of the species grow very rapidly. 

Characteristics. — Leaves single, flat, linear, with distinct stalks (petioles) somewhat comb-like in their arrange- 
ment on the twigs. Cones usually small, with thin scales, hanging from the ends of the branches. Seeds partly 
inclosed in a persistent wing ; resemble those of the firs, but of smaller size ; mature the first year ; do not keep well ; 
low percentage of germination. Branches pendant; crown spindle-like inform. Two genera, comprising seven 
species, five of which are indigenous. 

The wood of the Douglas Spruce resembles the common "hard pine" (Red, Loblolly, etc.) in texture and grain, 
resembles the larch in color, and is used for all purposes for which pine is employed, the excellent dimensions 
naturally leading to its preference for many purposes. 

The wood of the Eastern Hemlock is used chiefly for dimension stuff, also for boards, and recently for pulp ; but 
it has been well demonstrated that the wood is well suited even for finishing lumber, and that the prevailing 
prejudice against it is as unwarranted in the case of the Eastern as in that of the Western Hemlock. The 
appearance of the wood in oil finish is very satisfactory. 



Name of species and limit of size. 



Soil and climate, and characteristics of j 



25. DOUOIiAS SPRITCE. 



(Red Fie. . Yellow Fir. Ore- 
QON Pine.) 



Height, 300 feet + ; diame- 
ter, 10 feet -1- . 



26. HEMLOCK 

{Tsuga canadensis (Linn.) Carr.) 



Height, 80 feet -j- ; diame- 
ter, 3 feet -H. 



27. WESTERN HEMLOCK . 



Carr.) 



Height, 180 feet 
ter, 6 feet -}-. 



(Bong.) 
■f : diame- 



Accommodatea itself to many soils, but prefers a deep and moist 
cool and well-drained one; succeeds well on a dry, slaty soil, 
aud on sand dunes and exposed situations. 

Surpasses .almost all of the c 
and endures drought bette 
ing. 

One of the largest and most important forest trees of the West. 
For Eastern planting seed should be procured from Colorado 
or Montana. Repairs dam.age very re.adily. 



jrows slowly when young, but tolerably rapidly after four c 
live years; endures shade. 



ually 



A substitute for the above species on the Paciiic coast. 
An exceedingly rapid grower, even on poor soils. 



V. Deciduous Conifers. — Though botanically not classed together, yet in forestry they may be considered 
allied, as the yearly fall of leaves improves the soil, while the absence of foliage during the winter and early spring 
distinguishes tliem from the evergieens, and their extreme need of light requires similar forest man.igement. The 
Larches are of Northern or mountain habitat aud the Bald Cypress of local southern distribution ; but are all adapted 
to various situations. The European L.irch probably surpasses the Northeastern Tamarack in every respect. 

Characteristics. — Larches: Leaves iu clusters, slender, aud soft. Cones small, egg-shaped, or elongated, with 
thin scales. Seeds small, triangular, nut-like iu shape; mature the first year. Produces seed frequently and 
abundantly. Seeds keep well, Imt are of low percentage of germination. 

Bald Cypress : Leaves single, sharp-pointed, very small and scanty, comb-like in the arrangement on the young 
twigs. Cones b.all-like, with thick, woody scales, falling apart when mature. Seeds irregularly triangular-shaped, 
with hard, thick, wood-like shell ; mature yearly abundantly, and keep well. 



56 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



List of one hundred species of trees of the United States most valuable for timher, with notes on their range of distribution, 
cultural requirements, and the character and use of their wood — Contiuued. 



Name of species and limit of size. 



; of abnndant growth. 



Soil and climate, and characteristics of; 



28. BAr.I> CVPRESS 

(Taxodiiim dhtichum Eicb.) 



29. TAMARACK 

(Black Larch. Hackmatack.) 
(Larix laricina (Du Roi) Koch.) 
neter, 



30. WESTERIV I.ARCII.. 

(Tamarack.) 

(Larix occidcntalis Nutt.) 

Height, 100 f<?et +; d 
ter, 4 feet +. 



South Atlantic and Gulf States, 
forming forests in swamps and 
pine-barren ponds. 



Nortbeastern {in United States). 



Beat development probably north 
of the United States boundary. 



Northwe.'itern ; elevations between 
2,500 and 5,000 feet. 



Indifterent to imperfect drainage and flooding, but capable of 
rapid growth on well-drained, moist, sandy soils, and hardy 
as tar north as latitude 39° and 40"^, and even on Western 
prairies. Positively light-needing. To be recommended for 
extensive planting in favorable situations, where ev(;n, supe- 
rior lumber may be expected. 

North of United States boundary, found on moist uplands; 
south in United States, in cold, wet swamps; but probably of 
more value when grown on deep, moist, well-drained soils, in 
cool situations. 

Rapid and persistent grower; light-needing. Deserves attention 
in Northern forestry, but only in mixed gTowths. 

An important tree aa a Western representative of the foregoing 
species, occupying dry slopes in dry climate. 



VI. Cypress Family. — Under this head may well he grouped the Junipers and so-called cedars, to which can 
be added the California redwoods. Characterized mostly by the shingle-like arrangement of their small, scaly 
leaves, the small, roundish fruit (a cone, or berry-like), and by the usually upright habit of the branches and scanty 
fall of leaves. 

Their great endurance of shade makes them valuable adjuncts to forestry; otherwise of only secondary impor- 
tance. Of the many species contained in seven genera, but fourteen are found in the United States. 

Wood light, soft, stiff, not strong, of fine texture; sap and heartwood distinct, the former lighter, the latter a 
dull, grayish brown, or red. The wood seasons rapidly, shrinks and checks but little, and is very durable. Used 
like soft piue, but owing to its great durability preferred for shingles, etc. Small sizes used for posts, ties, etc. 
Cedars usually occur scattered, but they form in certain localities forests of considerable extent 



Name of specie.s and limit of f 



Regions of abundant growth. 



Soil and climate, and characteristics of , 



31. RED jrCJIVIPER 

(Savin.) 

{Juniperus virginiana Linn.) 

Height, 50 feet -(- ; diameter, 
l^feet -)-. 

32. WHITE CEDAR 



{Chamcecyparis thyoidcs (Linn.), 
B.S.P.) 
Height, 70 feet -\- ; diameter, 
lifeet -I-. 

33. PORT OEFORD CEDAR 



{Gliamcecyparis 
(MuiT.) Pari.) 



4. v^jb:i.IjOi;v cedar 



( CJi am cecypa Hs nootkatensis 
(Lamb.) Spacli.) 
Height, 150 feet 4- ; diameter, 
5feet +. 



35. ARBOR YJT^ 

(White Cedae.) 

(Thuja occidentaUs Linn.) 

Height, 50 feet +; diameter, 
1^ feet. 

36. GIANT ARBOR VITiE , 

(Red Cedar. Yellow Cedar.) 
(Thtija pUcata Don.) 

- ; diameter, 



Height, 150 feet - 
9 feet -H . 



Eastern United States. 



Best development in valley of Red 
River, Texas. 



Atlantic and Gulf States to < 
tral Mississippi. 



Most abundant and best developed 
in Virginia and North Carolina. 



Small range; in Oregon along west- 
ern coast from (Joos Bay, Oregon, 
to Crescent City, Cal. 



Northwest coast region, from Mt.. 
Jetlerson northward. Most com- 
mon on the seacoast north of 
United States boundary. 



Northwestern coastand from Hum- 
boldt, Cal., to British Columbia. 
Best development north of 
Seattle. 



j*refers a mild climale: deep swamps, borders of streams, 
ridges, bills; will thrive on a rather dry, loose .soil. Easily 
propagated from seed and cuttings. Perhaps the most im- 
portant conifer for Southwestern jiraiiie planting, enduring 
drought and partial shade. Tolerably rapid grower. 



Always in low, marshy, or wet ground, where it thrives well 
and grows rapidly. Endures moist, upland soils, but with 
slow growth. Very shade-enduring; easy to propagate from 
seed or cutting.s. 



Qly in low. moist, rich soil. Apparently hardy in the 
Northeastern States and succeeds on deep, rich, upland soils 
and maintains itself in claj loam. 



Like Arbor Vitai. 



"Will grow well in any soil not too stiifj often forming dense, 
pure growths in wet, boggy .swamps. Rapid grower; easily 
propagated; desirable for^undergrowth and to lill outplaces 
where other trees fail tu come. 



Like the above species, on Pacific coast. 



LIST OP ONE HUNDRED TREES MOST VALUABLE FOR TIMBER. 



67 



List of one hundred species of trees of the United States most valuaNe for timher, with notes on their range of distribution, 
cultural requiremtnts, and the character and use of their wood — Continued. 



Name of species ami limit of size. 



INCENSE CEDAR. 



(Libocedrtis decurrcns Torr.) 



REDWOOD 

(Sequoia scm2)ervire 



39. BIGTREE . 



Heigbt, 350 feet + ; diameter, 
35 feet +. 



Kegions of abundant growth. 



In interior valley between Coast 
Range and Sierra from middle 
Oregon to California (between 
3,000 and 8,500). 



California ; very local and isolated. 



Soil and climate, and characteristics of growth. 



Slopesnnd valleys, in well-drained and dry snils. Rapid grower: 
of excellent jijipearance. In the East proUably ailapted only 
to Southern States; succeeds excellently at Waahiogton, D. C. 



Low, moist, well-drained aitnations and damp climate; not on 
dry hillsides. 

Vigorous and persistent grower; ahade-endnring; sprouts from 
the stump. Highly important for California forestry; per- 
haps also for that of Southern States. 



Moist situations, between 4,000 and 6,000 feet. 
Probably only of historical interest. 



B. BROAD-LEAFED TREES. 

(Willi iQVj' exceptions tlicae trees are deciduous.) Neitlier a strictly botanical nor a strictly practical classifi- 
cation in large groups has been attempted, but a sequence within botanical relations, and an arrnngement according 
to the nature of the seed has been more or le.se observed, placing first the acorn and nut-bearing trees, next those 
with hard, wingless seeds, and lastly, those with soft and winged seeds. 

The Oaks. — Wood very variable, usually very heavy and hard, very strong and tough, porous, and of coarse 
texture; the sapwood whitish, the heart "oak" brown to reddish brown. It shrinks aud checks badly, giving 
trouble in seasnning, but stands well, is durable, and little subject to attacks of insects. Oak is used for many 
purposes : In shipbuilding, forheuvy construction, in common enrpentry, in furniture, car, and wagon work, cooperage, 
turnery, aud even in wood carving; also in the manufacture of all kiudsof farm implements, wooden mill machinery, 
for piles and wharves, railway ties, etc. The oaks are medium to large-sized trees, forming the predominant part of 
a large j)ortion of our broad-leafed forests, so that these are generally " oak forests," though they always contain a 
considerable proportion of other kinds of trees. Three well-marked kinds— white, rod, and live oak— are dis- 
tinguished ;ind hept separate in the market. Of the two principal kinds white oak is the stronger, tougher, less 
porous, and more durable. Red oak is usually of coarser texture, more porous, often brittle, less durable, aud even 
more troublesome in seasoning than white oak. In carpentry aud furniture work, red oak brings about the same 
price at present as white oak. The red oaks everywhere accompany the white oaks, aud, like the latter, are usually 
represented by several species in auy given locality. Live oak, once largely employed in shipbuilding, possesses all 
the good ([ualities (except that of size) of white oak, even to a greater degree. It is one of the heaviest, hardest, 
and most durable building timbers of this country; in structure it resembles the red oaks, but is much less porous. 



!N"aine of species and limit of size. 



40. WllITE OAK 



{Quercus alba Linn.) 



Height, 100 feet -H ; diameter, 
3 feet -t-. 



41. COW OAK. 



(Swamp Chestnut Oak, Basket 
Oak.) 



(Quercits michanxii Nutt.) 



Height, 100 feet + ; diameter, 
3 feet + . 



42. CIIIIVQVAPIIV OAK. 



Height, 80 feet -f ; diameter, 
3 feet H-. 



43. LIVE OAK 

(Quercus virginii 



Regions of abundant growth. 



Best development on western 
slopes of Allegheny Mountains 
and valley of Ohio Kiver. 



Southeastern 

Best development on the rich bot- 
tom lands of southeastern Ar- 
kansas aud Louisiana. 



Central and Middle Atlantic 
gion. 



Largest growth in lower Ohio Val- 
ley. 



Southern States. 



Soil and climate, and characteristics of growth. 



Jrows well on a great variety of soils, but best on deep, mod- 
erately moist, well-drained, loamy sand, and in warm situa- 
tions.' Slow but persistent grower; light-needing; capable 
of enduring shade, but not with advantage. Most valuable 
of tlie American oaks. 



Moist, rich soil; will endure Hooding. 

The most valuable of the White Oaks for the Gulf States. 



Best in deep, rich, moist, well-drained bottom lands, but §row8 
well and is not uncommon on dry, fertile, limestone soils; it 
also suct-eeds on clayey and sandy soils of uplands. 



Warm, loamy soil, retentive of moisture, ami free from over 
flow. ^ 

One of the most rapid growers of all the oaks; most shade- 
enduring.- evergreen foliage. Especially desirable for South- 
ern forestry. 



58 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



List of one hundred species of trees of the United States most valuable for timber, with notes on their range of distribuiio7ij 
cultural requirements, and the character and uses of their wood — Contiuued. 



i of species and limit of g 



ii. CANON LIYJS OAK 

(Maul Oak. Valparaiso Oak.) 
iQuercus ckrysolepis Liebm.) 
Height, 80 feet + ; diameter, 
5 leet+. 

45. TAN-BARK OAK 



Kegions of abundant growth. 



Pacific coast. 



[Quercu^ densijlora Hoot. & 
Arnott.) 



46. CHESTNUT OAK 

(KocK Chestnut Oak.) 
( Quercus prinus Li nn . ) 



Northeastern . 



47. »IJB OAK . 



(MossYCUP Oak. 

OAK.) 



{Quercus maarocarpa Michs.) 



48. POST OAK 

{Iron Oak.) 

{Querciis 7ftmor {Marsh.) Sarg.) 

Height, 80 feet + ; diameter, 
2i feet + . 

49. OVERCUP OAK ...!.. 

(QuerciiS lyrata Walt.) 



Mainly Northeastern United 
States ; extends farthest wijst 
and northwest of any of the 
Eastern oaks. 



East of the Rocky Mountains . 



Southeastern United States . 



Beat developed in Arkansas and 
atljacent Texas. 



50. SWAMP WHITE OAK Northeastern United States . 

(Quer eus platanoides ( Lam . ) 
Sudw.) 



Heiffht, 90 feet -t- ; diameter, 
2 Feet + . 



51. RF:I> OAK 

(Quercus rubra Linn.) 

Height, 100 feet + ; diameter, 
3ifeet+. 

52. BL.ACK OAK 



(yELLOWEARK OAK. YelLOW 

Oak. Quercitron Oak.) 



{Quercus velutina Lam.) 



53. SPANISH OAK. 

{Red Oak.) 



54. WATER OAK . 



s nigra Linn.) 



East of Rocky Mountains 

Most northerly of Atlantic oaks. . 



Soil and climate, and characteristics of growth. 



Warm, dry, sunny exposures. 
Foliage evergreen. 



Well drained, rich soils. 
Shade-enduring. 
Foliage evergreen. 



For planting on rocky banks and hillsides; ne^er in any but 
well-drainett situations. 



A Western substitute for White Oak, and especially recom- 
mended for prairie planting. 



Well-drained gravelly uplands, clay barrens, and poor sandy 

loams. 
Recommended for Western planting. 



Chiefly in wet or submerged swamps, but grows well in well- 
drained bottom lands and on rich, gravelly, or sandy loam 
uplands. 



In deep moist or inundated swamps and low banks of water 
courses. Succeeds in all loose, rich, fairly moist upland soils. 



Thrives in all soils, except an undrained one. 

The most rayid in growth of all the oaks. Sprouts vigorously 
from stump; of importance for tan-bark coppices. 



Gravelly uplands ; poorer soils than White Oak requires. 
Next to the Red Oak in rapidity of growth. 



Dry, barren suils; rapid grower. 



Heavy undrained soil; exceedingly rapid grower. 
A useful concoiniiant in Southern planting. 



LIST OF ONE HUNDRED TREES MOST VALUABLE FOR TIMBER. 



59 



List of one hundred species of trees of the United States most valuable for timher, with notes on their range of distrihutionj 
cultural requirements, and the character and uses of their u'ood — Continued. 



Name of apeciea and limit of size. 



55. BEECH 



3 feet 
56. CHESTNUT 



Height, 100 feet + ; diameter, 



{Castanea dentata (Marsh.) 
Borkb.) 



BIjACK w^acivut. 

{Juglans nigra Linn.) 



58. BUTTERNUT 

("White Walndt.) 

{Juglans einerea Linn.) 

Height, 80 feet + ; diameter, 
2 feet + . 



Regions of abundant growth. 



Beat development probably on 
" bluft'" formations of Lower 
Mississippi basin. 

Northeastern and Middle Atlantic 



Best development on westen 
slopes of Allegheny Mountains. 



Best development on southern 
slopes of Allegheny Mountains 
and in bottom lands of south- 
western Arkansas and Indian 
Territory. 

Northeastern States 



Soil and climate, and characteristics of growth 



Fresh, rich, but not necessarily a deep soil ; limestone soils. 

For rocky, exposed situations. Eapid grower and enduring 
shade exceedingly well, a fact which renders it one of the 
most valuable aids in forestry. 



Well drained gravelly soils; succeeds on rocky hillsides with 
soil of sufBcient looseness and depth ; on northern and eastern 
exposures ; will thrive on rather poor sand ; slow and uncer- 
tain in stiff, clayey soil; on limestone only when well fissured. 

Exceedingly rapid grower; moderately shade-enduring; sprouts 
most vigorously and pevMistently tvom the stump; large ijield 
per acre. 

Deep, loose, fresh to moist, warm, and sandy loam; will grow 
in a dry and compact soil, but not in a wet one. 

Hardy and rapid grower, especially in height; only centena- 
rians proiluce first-class quality of lumber, but useful timber 
may be produced in 40 to 60 years. Sprouts freely from the 
stump. Not recommended for arid or subarid regions nor for 
uplands. 

Prefers a deep, ricli, cool loam ; suited to cooler sites and colder 
climate than the foregoing species. Rapid grower when 
young. 



The Hickories, and other hard-seeded varieties. — The Hickories. — Wood very heavy, hard, and strong, 
tough, of rather coarse texture, smooth, and of straight grain. The broad sapwood white, the heart reddish nut 
brown. It dries slowly, shrinks and checks considerably ; is not durable in the ground, or if exposed, and, especially 
the sapwood, is always subject to the inroads of boring insects. Hickory excels as carriage and wagon stock, but is 
also extensively tised in the manufacture of implements and machinery, for tool handles, timber pins, for harness 
work, and cooperage. The hickories are tall trees with slender stems, never form forests, occasionally small groves, 
hut usually occur scattered amoug other broad-leafed trees in suitable localities. The following species all contrib- 
ute more or less to the hickory of the markets : 



, Name of species and limit of size. 



Regions of abundant growth. 



Soil and climate, and characteristics of growth. 



59. SHAOBARK BIGKORV^ 

(Shellbabk Hickory.) 
{Hicoria ovata (Mill.) Eritt.) 



60. BITXERWUT 

(Pignut. Swamp HicKORr., 

(Hicoria minima (Marsh.) Britt.) 

Height, 80 feet + ; diameter, 
2 feet -1- . 

61. MOCKERNUT 



(bullnut. kingnut. black 
Hickory. Bigbdd Hickory. 
"Whiteheaet Hickory.) 

(Micoria alba (Linn.) Eritt.) 

Height, 90 feet + ; diameter, 
3 feet -h . 



62. SHELLEARK HICKORY. 

(Bottom Shellbark.) 



[Hicoria laciniosa (Michx. f.) 
Sarg.) 



Eastern United States; wideiang 



Best development west of the Alle- 
gheny Mountains. 



Eastern United States ; wide range 



Eastern United States ; wide range. 



Central United States; local. 



npact soil not ohjectionahle; not on poor, 



Deep, fresh soil; a i 
dry, or wet soils. 

At lirst slow, but afterwards rapid grower; sprouts well from 
the stump. Moderately shade enduring. Somewhat liable to 

injury by frost. 



To replace Shagbark Hickory on low, moist, or wet ground. 

Sprouts well from the stump. 

Less liable to frost than Shagbark Hickory, but more subject to 
the ravages of insects. 



Rich, deep soil ; especially adapted to well-drained bottom lands, 
but succeeds with slower growth on drier uplands. 

Climatically confined. 



60 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



List of one hundred species of trees of the Vniied States most valuable for timbeVj ivith notes on their range of distribution, 
cultural requirements, and the character and uses of their wood — Continued. 



Name of species and limit, of s 



63. PECAN 

(Illinois Nut.) 

{Hicoria pecan (Marsh.) Britt.) 

Height, 75 feet i- ; diameter, 
2 feet H-. 

64. BLACK CHERKY 

(Rum Cherry.) 

(Primus serotina Ehrhart.) 

Height, 90 feet + ; diameter, 
2 feet -\- . 



65. SWEET OUM . 



{Liquidambar styracijlua Linn.) 



Heiffht, 100 feet -|- ; diameter, 
3 fet't -)-. 



66. LOCUST 

{Locust. Yellow Locust.) 
(Rohlnia pseudacacia Liim.) 



Height, 80 feet + ; 
1^ feet + . 



67. HONET LOCUST . 



(Sweet Locust. Honey Shucks. 

THREE-TIIOUN ED ACACIA. 

Black Locust.) 



Height, DO feet + ; diameier, 
2feet +. 



68. HACKBERRV 

(Nettle-tree.) 
(Geltis occidentalis Lii 
H 

69. RED MULBERRY... 

{Morus rubra Linn.) 

Height, 60 feet + 
2 feet -I- . 

70. MAGNOLIA 



c (Linn) Sarg.) 

Height, 70 feet -f ; diameter, 

2 feet. 

71. CUCUMBER TREE 

[Magnolia aciuninata Linn.) 

Height, 90 feet 

3 feet + . 

72. TCMP-THEE. 



(White Wood.' Yellow Pop- 
lar.) 



(Liriodendron tulipifera Linn.) 



Regions of abundant growth. 



Best develoiinient in Arkansas and 
Indian Territory. 



Eastern United States ; wide 



Southeastern States. 



Greatest development in ba 
Mississippi River. 



Southern Allegheny regiq/i 

Allegheny Mountains; local; hut 
hy cultivation widely distributed 
east of Kocky Mountains. 



Central States 

Best development in bottom land 
of lower Ohio River basin. Wide- 
ly cultivated for hedges and or- 
nament. 



Northern and mainly east of the 
Rocky Mountains. 



East of longitude 98° 



Best development in basins of 
lower Ohio and Mississippi 



Southern and Gulf States, 



Best development along 
sippi in Gulf region. 



Mainly Middle Atlantic region. 
Best development in the 
southern A llegheny Mountain 
region. 



Eastern States. 



Greatest development in valley of 
lower AVabash River, and" on 
western slope of Allegheny 
Mountains in Tennessee, North 
Carolina, and the Virginias. 



Soil and climate, and characteristics of growth. 



land, hut succeeds fairly on upland p 



• Southwestern planting. 



More valuable perhaps for production of frnit tha 
purposes. 



Adapted to almost any soil and situation; best in deep, well- 
drained soil; will succeed also on dry soil. Very rapid grower, 
very soon reaching a useful size for cabinet wood. Endures 
considerable shade when young. 

The wide range of sitest to which it is adapted, its rapid growth 
and endurance of shade place it among the moat valuable 
forest trees of the United States, especially for Western 
planting. Not infected, by caterpillars io forest plantations. 

Succeeds on a great variety of soils; a tree of the swamp as 
well as of dry .soils; best on light, dry, aandy, and soils re- 
tentive of moisture. Rapid grower. 



Insect proof and generally healthy. 



Poor, loose s.ands give best quality of timber; not succeeding 
well in eouijiaet soils, bnt will thrive on a thin one, and grows 
(luickest on a rich, sandy loam. 

Very rapid grower while young; needs light very much; 
sprouts 2^ersi.'iti'7itly tiud vigoroasli/ from tlieroots. To heonly 
sparingly dispersed among shady companions, which will 
afford protection against the attacks of boreis. 

Easily propagated from seed, also by cuttings, suckers, and 
stakes. Eor short rotations and coppice management. 

Low, rich bottom land; rarely on high, dry, sterile hills; but 
often common on rich uplands, where it grows rapidly. 

Very rapid grower; needs light. 

Easily grown from seed, hut not from cuttings. Less liable to 
insect ravages; otherwise to be treated like Blade Locust, 
which it is recommended to replace in Soiithern localities. 



"Will grow tolerably well on the most barren and poorest soils, 
but best in a fertile one, cool and moist, where it is of rapid 



In Western planting recommended only as an adjunct. 



poorer dry soil; endures 



For Southwestern ]ilautii 



Cool, moist hummocks, with rich, deep, loose soil. 

Not hardy in Northern States; for strictly Southern tilimate. 



Id cool, moist, deep, rich soils of mountain slopes, valleys, and 
"coves." Succeeds also in fresh sandy or gravelly soils of 
moderate richness. 



clayey soils, in cool, moist situa- 



Tolerably rapid and persistent grower. Needs light very much ; 
hardy. 

Poor seeder, and low percentage of germination; seed to "lie 
over." Sprouts fairly from stum^. One of the largest and 
most valuable of the deciduous sott woods. 



LIST OF ONE HUNDRED TKEES MOST VALUABLE FOR TIMBER. 



61 



List of one Mndred species of trees of the United States viost valuable for thnher, with notes on their range of distrihutiov , 
cnltural requirements, and the charaeler and uses of their ivood — Continued. 



Kame of species and limit of size. Kegions of abundant growtii, 



73. HARDY CATALPA. 



{Cafalpa speciosa Warder.) 

Height, 80 feet + ; diameter, 
3 feet + . 



74. COMMON CATALPA 

(Catalpa calalpa (Linn.) Karst.) 



Height, 40 feet -j- ; diameter, 
1^ feet-h. 



South Central States; rare, but 
widely cultivated for ornament. 



Soil and climate, and characteristics of growth. 



Very rapid grower; sprouts vigorously from the stump; vliadc 
endnrinff. Good seeder and keeper. Readily propagated from 
seed, cuttiugs, and layers. 

Foliage subject to ravages 

Like the preceding, to be used in Southwestern planting, to 
which it is best adapted. 



The Ashes, Maples, Elms, etc.— The wood of the ashes is heavy, hard, strong, stiff, quite tough, not durable 
in contact with soil, straight grained, rouj^h on the split surface, and coarse in texture. The wood shrinks moder- 
ately, seasons with little injury, "stands" well, and takes a good polish. In carpentry ash is used for finishing lumber, 
stairways, panels, etc. ; it is used in shipbuilding, in the construction of cars, wagons, carriages, etc., in the manu- 
facture of farm implements, machinery, and especially of furniture of all kinds, and also for harness work; for 
barrels, baskets, oars, tool handles, hoops, clothespins, and toys. The trees of the several species of ash are rapid 
"Towers, of small to medium height, wich stout trunks; they form no forests, but occur scattered in almost all our 
broad-leaved forests. 



Name of species and limit of size. 



Regions of abundant growth. 



Soil and climate, and characteristics of growth. 



WHITE ASH 

{Fiaximts atnericana Li 



BI.A€K ASH 

(Hoop Ash. Ground Ash.) 
(Fraxinus nigra Marsh.) 



Eastern; wide range Depth, looseness, and moisture of soil of most importance. Best 

I in moist atmosphere of northern and eastern exposures. Will 
Be.st development in lower Ohio succeed in wet*and compact soilif well drained, biit maintains 
hasin. ' itself with alow growth in a light and dry one. 

j Kapid grower; liulil iiei-diiii:. thinning out rapidly, and tliereibre 
1 requiring sIi;m1\ , slow ri' urowiug companions. Sprouts vigor- 
ously and iKisiNi. iiily iVoin the stump. Often a poor seeder; 
seed not <_-asi!v ki-]tt, ftiKiing to "lie over." Liable to attacks 
of horer and to frost wlien young. 



GREEN ASH 

{Fraxinus lanceolata Borkh.) 



Northern and Nortlieastern States 
The mo.st northerly of the ashes. 



Western States east of Kocky 
Mountains and South ; most com- 
mon and beat developed in the 
Mississippi Valley. 



BLUE ASH 

{Fraxinus qvadraiigidataMichx.) 



OREGON ASH 

(Fraximis oregona Nutt.) 



Height, 60 feet -|- ; diameter, 
1^ feet -\-. 



SUOAR fllAPCE 

(Hard Maple. Sugar-tree.) 
(Acer saccharuTn Marsh.) 



SILVER MAPLE 

{White Maple. Soft Maple.) 
{Acer saccharinum Linn.) 



Height, 90 feet + ; diameter, 
3feet-l-. 



Northwestern coast i 



Eastern United States. 



Soils like those for F. atnencana, but indifferent to drainage, and 
more dependent on moisture; therefore well adapted to un- 
drained situations in cool climate; otherwise like ( 



Less dependent on humidity of soil than the White Ash, but 
prefers a deep, cool, moist soil, and will succeed even on inun- 
dated lands. 

Rapid but not persistent grower. Seed germinates readily. 

The ash for Western planting. 



Less dependent on moisture 
deep, moist soil, and grows 



ihan other ashes; prelers 
ell on dry limestone soils 



Recommended for Western planting. 



Moist soils and climate. 



Best on moderately deep, loose, well-drained, strong, loamy, and 
calcareous soil, in moipt, cool position; will grow also on stiff 
clay, if not too wet, and on stony hillsides, if not too dry. 

Tolerably rapid and persistent grower ; moderately shade endur- 
ing; does not sprout well from the stump. 



Not well adapted to dry regions. 



nd climates, but best < 



Very rapid but not persistent grower; light needing; sprouts 
vigorously from the stump; liable to injury from winds; com- 
paratively free from insects. 

Especially recommended as a nurse in Western planting. 



62 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

List 0/ one hundred species of trees of the United States most valuable for t'mherj tvith notes on their range of distrWution, 
cultural requirementSj and the character and uses of their wooti— Continued. 



!Name of species and limit of size. 



Kegions of abundant growth. 



Soil and climate, and characteristics of growth. 



82. BED MAPLE. 



(Acer rubrum Linn.) 



Height, 90 feet + ; diameter, 
3 feet + . 



83. OREGON MAPLE. 



(Califoknia Maple. Broad- 
LEAS-ED Maple.) 



(Acer 'jnacrophjllum, Purah.) 



84. BOXELDER 

(Ash-leaved Maple.) 
(Acer negundo Linn.) 



85. WHITE EI.M 

(American Elm. "Water Elm.) 
(Ulmus americana Linn.) 

Height, 100 feet + ; diameter, 

3i+. 



CORK ElilVI. 



(Hickory Elm. White Elm. 
Cliff Elm.) 



(Ulmus racemosa Thomas.) 

Height, 90 feet + ; diameter, 



WINGELM 

(TJlmus alata Michs..) ■ 



88. SLIPPERY ELM . 



(Eed Elm. Moose Elm.) 
■ ( TJhnus pubtscens Thomas.) 

Height, 60 feet + ; diameter, 
2feet+. 

YELLOW BIRCH 

(Gray Birch.) 

(Betula lutea Michx. f.) 

Height, 80 feet + ; diameter, 
3 feet +. 



90. SWEET BIKCH . 



(Cherry Birch. Mahogany 

Birch.) 
{Betula lenta Linn.) 

Height, 60 feet + ; diameter, 



KIVER BIECH 

(Betula nigra Linn.) 



92. OANOE BIRCH.. 



(White Birch. Paper Birch.) 
(Betula papyrif era Marshall.) 
Height, 60 feet + ; diameter, 



Best on low. wet soils, but will thrive in 
situations. 



joderately dry 



Pacific slope. 



Best development on rich bottom 
lands of southern Oregon. 



East of the Rocky Mountains 



Northeastern United States . 



Best development in southern On- 
tario and Michigan. 



Southeastern United States. 



Best development west of the 
Mississippi River. 



Northern Atlantic and Gulf States. 



Best development north of the 
Great Lakes. 



Same range as Yellow Birch. 



Eastern States 

Best development in the Snuth 
Atlantic and Lower Mississippi 
Valley regions. 



Rapid, but moderately persistent grower; endures more shade 
than .1. saccharinum L. ; sprouts vigorously from the stump. 

Usefulness in dry climates questionable. 



Rich bottom lands. 

Rapid grower in moist climate. 

Important on the Pacific slope. 



Best on low, rich ground, but will succeed on upland. 

Rapid but not persistent grower ; sprouts well from the stump ; 
hardy. Easily propagated. 

For forestry x>urposes, imported only as mtrse and soil cover, 
especially in Western planting. 

Adapted to a great variety of soils, but best on a rich, loose, 
moist one; requires less moisture than the ashes; bears 
occasional flooding. 

Rapid and persistent grower; sprouts well; euduroo moderate 



Important in forestry mainly as a nurse and for soil cover. 

Recommended for Western planting. 

Rich, moist, heavy, loamy soils. 

Probably to take the place of the White Elm in forestry. 



Most commonly on dry, gravelly uplands, but frequently in 
moist bottoms and along water courses. Very adaptive, and 
to bo used in Southwestern planting in place of the White 
Elm. 



Rapid bat not persistent grower. Easily propagated. 



Cool, moist atmosphere preferable. Capable of thriving on poor, 
but best on a moderately deep, loose, moist sand; hardy and 
very adaptive as to soils. 

Rapid and tolerably persistent grower; sprouting qualities 
greatly dependent on site. Vigorously in moist soils. Light 
needing. Easily propagated. 



Same as above species, but apparently not as rapid nor s 
siatent a grower. 



Almost exclusively on moist or inundated bottoms, along 
streams, and near ponds. Succeeds very well on moist, rich, 
porous, upland soils. Important as a substitute for Northern 
birches in Southwestern planting. 



Mostly on sandy soils in northern climates. 

Not on clay lands where the Yellow Birch thrives. 



LIST OP ONE HUNDRED TREES MOST VALUABLE FOR TIMBER. 



63 



List of one hundred species of trees of the United States most valuahle for timber, ivith notes on their range of distribntion, 
cultural requirements J and the character and uses of their wood — Continued. 



Name of species and limit of i 



Eegions of abundant growth. 



Soil iiud climate, and characteristica of growth. 



WHITE BIRCH.. 



Kortheastern coa«t regio 



(Betula populifolia Marsh.) 



94. BASSU^OOO 



{Tilia americana Linn.) 



95. WHITE BASS WOOD .... 

{Tilia heteropkylla Vent.) 



East of the Mississippi and Mis- 
souri rivers; wide range. 



Middle and South Atlantic 
gion. 



Height, 60 feet + ; diameter, 
3 teet + . 



96. SYCAMORE . 



{Platanus occidentalis liinn.) 
Height, 120 feet + ; diameter, 



97. COTTONWOOD. 



Beat development i 
leghenies. 



Best development in bottom lands 
of the Ohio and Mississippi 



East of the Rocky Mountains . 



(Carolina Poplar. Big Cot- 
tonwood. Necklace Pop- 
lab.) 

{Popzilus deltoides Marsh.) 

Height, 100 feet+ ; diameter, 
4Feet+, 



■8. LARGE-TOOTH ASPEN.. 



Northern and Northeastern States 



(White Poplar.) 

(Populus grandidentata Michx.) 



BALM OF QILEAD. 



Northern United States . 



(Balsam Poplar. Tacamahac.) 
{Populvs halnaniifera Linn.) 
Height, 70 feet + ; diameter, 
3 feet +. 



100. ASPEN.. 



(American Aspen.) 
(Popuhis tremnloidcs Michx.) 
Height, 30 feet -h ; diameter, 
l^fectHj^. 



Northern and Southwestern 
(in United States) ; in Pacific re- 
gion, from 0,000 to 10,000 feet ele- 
vation. 



Adapted to drier and poorer soils than other birches. 
Short-lived; rapid grower; sj?rou(s readily from the stump. 
Probably least important of the birches. 



Deep, moderately loose, and somewhat moist soil; can endure a 
wet soil, but will not thrive on a dry one. 

Rapid and persistent grower; sprouts vigorously from the 
stump; endures moderate shade. 

Not very hardy, but in cool situations a desirable adjunct in 
forestry. 

Deep, rich, moist, well-drained soils of mountain coves, lower 
slopes, and on the banks of streams; frequent also on rich 
limestone soils of the plain, and succeeds on dry, gravelly, 
clayey, and sandy soils of moderate richness; important for 
Southern planting in place of the Northern basswood. 

Rich, moist soil, low ground, thriving in swamps subject to 
overflow ; grows well on moist upland. 

Wide climatic range, but liable to frost when young; light 
needing; secondary in forestry. 



Exceedingly rapid grower; sprouts vigorously from the stump; 
light needing; thinning out rapidly; short-lived and exhaust- 
ive to the soil; most readily propagated. 

Has been recommended for planting on Western prairies, 
chiefly on account of its rapidity of growth, ease of procuring 
plant' material, and of propagation. In forestry should be 
used only as a nurse with better and shady kinds. 

Northern States, in moist situations; grows well in all fresh 
upland soils. 



A substitute for cottonwood in the most northern localities. 
Thrives in moist, rich, well-drained soils. 



Of value mainly as atree naturally covering denudedmountain 
aides and as a quick-growing nurse for better kinds. 



Note 1. — Trees wbicli may be looked to as capable of enduring more or less unfavorable sites: 

Dry to barren soils : Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5, 11, 15, 30, 31, 47, 48, 53, 64, 66, 68, 82, 87, 93. 

Insufficiently drained soils : Nos. 3, 9, 21, 28, 31, 32, 41, 50, 54, 65, 76, 82, 85, 86, 91, 96, 

Stiff soils : Nos. 31, 32, 53, 54, 67, 73, 74, 77, 84, 85. 

Prairie planiimj : Tried, Nos. 1, 4, 17, 25, 30, 31, 47, 51, 57, 59, 60, 62, 63, 64, 66, 67, 68, 70, 73, 75, 77, 78, 79, 81, 82, 84, 85, 
87, 89. Worthy of trial, Nos. 2, 7, 11, 31, 40, 48, 69. 

Note 2.— Of exotics which have been successfully introduced for forest culture, the following may be cited as 
deserving more or less attention : 

Conifers: Scotch Pine {Pinna sylvestrisj L.), Austrian Pine {Finns anstriaca, Hobs.), Corsican Pine {Finns larido, 
Poir.), Norway Spruce {Picea excelsaj D. C.)j Nordmann's Fir {Abies Nordmanniana, Link.), European Larch {Larix 
EuropoiUy D. C). 

Broad-leafed trees: English Oak {Quercus robur^ L.), Cork Oak (Qnercus snher, Linn.), Black Alder {Alnus glnti- 
nosa, Gaertn.), Ailanthus {Ailanthns glandulosus, Desf.), Black Mulberry {Moras nigra, L.). Australian Gum Trees: 
Eucalyptus globulus J Labil., E. rostraia, Cav. Australian Wattle Trees: Acacia decurrenSj Willd., A. pycnantha fBenth, 
Gray Poplar {Populus cane^censj Smith), 



64 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

BioLoaicAL Studies. 

As we shall see further on in this report the most important part of our forest resource is in 
the coniferous supplies, and among these especially in the pines, the white pine of the North and 
the yellow pine of the South. These latter covering vast areas, not less than 100,000,000 acres, 
furnish uow, and will still more in the near future, the most important staiiles of our lumber 
industry, as the white pine supplies are giving out. There is still a possibility of treating the 
uncut balance of these pineries in such a manner as to secure their continued productiveness. 
The Division of Forestry, therefore, devoted much time and attention to the study of the economic, 
botanical, silvicultural, and technological features of these pines. The results have been embodied 
in a magnificent monograph (Bulletin 13), prepared by Dr, Charles A. Mohr, of Mobile, Ala. 

To give an idea of the character of this work and at the same time a conception of the nature 
and development of these pines the following extracts and condensed statements are jiresented : 

SOUTHERN LUMBER PINES. 

The Southern States abound in those sandy soils which are the home of the pine tribes, and 
were once covered with seemingly boundless forests of the same. There are still large areas 
untouched, yet the greater portion of the primeval forest has not only been culled of its best 
timber, but the repeated couflagrations which follow the lumbering and, still more disastrously, 
the turpentine gatherers' operations have destroyed not only the remainder of the original growth, 
but the vegetable mold and the young aftergrowth, leaving thousands of square miles as blackened 
wastes, devoid of usefulness, and reducing by so much the potential wealth of the South. 

There are, in general, four belts of pine forest of different types recognizable, their boundaries 
running in general direction somewhat parallel to the coast line : (1) The coast plain, or pine-barren 
flats, within the tidewater region, 10 to 30 miles wide, once occupied mainly by the most valuable 
of Southern timbers, the longleaf pine, now being replaced by Cuban and loblolly pines; (2) the 
rolling pine hills, or pine barrens proper, with a width of 50 to 120 miles, the true home of the 
longleaf pine, which occupies it almost by itself; (3) the belt of mixed growth of 20 to CO miles in 
width, in which the longleaf pine loses its ijredomiuance, the shortleaf, the loblolly, and the hard 
woods associating and disputing territory with it; and (4) the shortleaf pine belt, where this 
species predominates on the sandy soils, the longleaf being entirely absent and the loblolly only a 
feeble competitor, hard woods being interspersed or occupying the better sites. Within the terri- 
tory the species that occur occupy diflereiit situations. Thus the Cuban, which accompanies the 
longleaf, usually occupies the less well-drained situations, together with the loblolly, which, 
although it can accommodate itself to all soils, reaches its best development in the rich lowlands 
and is specially well developed in the flat woods which border the coast marshes of eastern Texas; 
where it associates with the shortleaf pine it also seeks the moister situation. 

The longleaf and shortleaf pines are, iu quantity and quality combined, the most important, 
while the loblolly or oldfield piue, as yet not fully appreciated, coines next, occupying large areas. 
The Cuban pine, usually known as slash j^iue — always cut and sold without distinction with the 
longleaf pine — a tree of as flue quality and of more rapid growth than the longleaf pine, is associ- 
ated with the latter in the coast pine belt, scattered iu single individuals or groups, but appears to 
increase in greater proportion in the young growth, being by its manner of development in early 
life better fltted to escape the dangers to which the aftergrowth is exposed. 

Besides these four most important pines there are a number of others of less significance. 
The white pine [Finns strobus) of the North extends its reign along the higher mountain regions 
of North Carolina into Georgia, forming a valuable timber tree, but of small extent. The spruce 
pine (P. glabra) develops into timber size, but is found only in small quantities and mostly scat- 
tered, and has therefore as yet not received attention in lumber markets; but its qualities, and 
especially its forestal value, being a pine which endures shade, will probably be appreciated in the 
future. The other four species of pine found in the South, namely, the black pine (P. rigida), the 
Jersey or scrub pine (P. virginiana), the spruce pine (P. clausa), the pond piue (P. seroUna), do 
not or only rarely develop into timber trees of value, excepting that the scrub pine, occupying 
large areas of abandoned fields in Virginia, furnishes a considerable amount of firewood. 

The greatest confusion exists in the names that are applied to these four lumber pines 
promiscuously. 




Fig. 2.— Longleaf Pine Forest after removal of Merchantable Timber. 



SOUTHERN LUMBER PINES. 65 

Maeket Names. 

The various names under wliicli Southern iiine lumber appears in the market are either 
general or specilic; the former being more or less general in application to lumber manufactured 
in the South, without reference to special localities, the latter referring to special localities from 
which the lumber is actually or presumably derived. In regard to the latter class of names it is 
to be regretted, perhaps, that they have been found necessary, the more because through their use 
not a few misconceptions and difficulties have arisen between consumers, manufacturers, and 
wholesale dealers, owing to the difficulty iu defiuing what tree species furnish lumber included by 
such name or names. 

The uninitiated may not understand that the various kinds of pine lumber manufactured in 
different States, although called by a specific name, may, after all, be of the same species and the 
same in all respects. "Florida long-leaved yellow pine" or "Florida pine" is iu no way different 
from that cut and manufactured in Georgia under the distinctive name of "Georgia long- leaved 
yellow pine" or "Georgia pine." The question as to any difference of quality dependent upon 
locality of growth is as yet undecided. 

The market names given to the various pines, uncertain as to their precise apj)licatibn in the 
minds of those that use them, or at least at variance with the conception of other authorities, are 
the folloT!7ing : 

General — Yellow pine, Southern yellow pine. Southern pine, long-leaved yellow pine, long- 
leaved pine, hard pine, pitch pine. 

Specific — Virginia yellow pine, Virginia pine, North Carolina yellow pine, North Carolina pine, 
Georgia yellow pine, Georgia pitch pine, Georgia pine, Georgia longleaf yellow, Georgia long leaved 
pine, Florida yellow pine, Florida pine, Florida long-leaved pine, Texas yellow pine, Texas long- 
leaved pine. 

The names "yellow i^ine," "Southern pine," seem first of all to be used as generic names, 
without distinction as to species. In the quotations from Western markets only "yellow pine" 
and "long-leaved yellow pine" or "long-leaved pine" are distinguished; the first name seemingly 
being now always used when "shortleaf" is meant, although it is also applied by advertisers from 
the longleaf-pine region to their product. In a market report of a leading lumber journal we find 
that "in the yellow pine line, longleaf, shortleaf, and curly pine can be bought," which would show 
that the attempt to distinguish the two kinds by their proper names is made. Curly pine, how- 
ever, is in most cases longleaf pine with a wavy or curly grain, a sport, which is also found in the 
shortleaf species. Loblolly seems not to be quoted in the Western markets. 

Formerly, while the longleaf pine was the only pine reaching the markets, it was commonly 
known under the name of "yellow pine," but notv the supply under this name may be made up of 
all the species indiscriminately. In Texas and Louisiana "yellow inne" designates the longleaf 
species, in Arkansas and Missouri the shortleaf, while there the name "longleaf" is applied to 
the "loblolly," which is rarely cut. 

In Florida, the Carolinas, and Georgia the name "yellow pine" is also used with less distinctive 
application. In Florida, besides the Cuban pine, which is never distinguished on the market, 
loblolly may also appear in the lumber jjile. In Georgia and the Carolinas, although locally the 
name "yellow pine" is most frequently applied to the shortleaf, in the market a mixture of long- 
leaf, shortleaf, loblolly, and Cuban pine satisfies the name. 

In England, where probably nothing but longleaf pine is handled, the current name is " pitch- 
pine," and this name is also most commonly used in Georgia and North and South Carolina, strictly 
applying to longleaf pine. In Boston only Southern and hard pine is mentioned without dis- 
tinction. It is in New York, Philadeli)hia, Baltimore, and other Atlantic markets that the greatest 
variety of names is used, with an attempt to distinguish two kinds, tlie longleaf and shortleaf, by 
using the name of the State from which the lumber is supposed to come, but neither the name nor 
the lumber pile agree always with the species that was to be represented. 

"North Carolina pine," which is supposed to apply specifically to shortleaf, will be found to 
include in the pile also better qualities of loblolly, sometimes to the amount of 50 per cent. Long- 
leaf forms only very occasionally a part of the supplies from this section. 

"Georgia pine" is meant to designate the longleaf species, and, like "Florida pine," does 
mostly conform to this designation excej)t as noted before under the name of yellow pine. 
H. Doc. 181 5 



66 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

"Virginia pine" or "Virginia yellow pine" are names hardly knoM'n elsewhere than in the 
markets of Baltimore and Washington, where the balk of the common building timber consists of 
it. It applies in the main to the loblolly, with a very small percentage of shortleaf making its 
way into the pile. While this is mostly coarse-grained inferior material, selected stuff, when well 
seasoned, furnishes good finishing and flooring material. 

Field Names. 

Field names are those applied to the four Southern pine lumber species in the tree and logs. 
Such names are usually more or less known to dealers and manufacturers, but, aside from the 
market names already discussed, have only lately been applied to lumber in the market. 

Of the three pines, longleaf, shortleaf, and loblolly, the first alone is perfectly known by 
lumbermen and woodmen as a distinct "variety" (species). The remaining species, presenting to 
the lumberman's eye various forms according to the site producing the timber, are commonly 
supposed "varieties" or "crosses" more or less related to the longleaf pine. Specific differences 
in the lumber, both in appearance and quality, form, however, a sufficient basis of distinction as 
far as lumber is concerned, although this distinction is not necessarily carried out in putting 
lumber on the market. 

A few of the names in common use are frequently applied by lumbermen to entirely different 
species from those usually known to botanists by the same name. The perplexity thus arising, upon 
the supposition that the common names of our botanical text-books are applied to the species by 
lumbermen, is not inconsiderable, and can doubtless be avoided only by a more careful attention 
on the part of the people to real specific distinctions. 

The confusion in names is such that it is almost impossible to analyze properly the use of these 
names in the various regions. In the tabulated account of names on the next page, a geographical 
distribution has been given, as far as possible. Here only a few of the names are to be discussed. 

" Pitch-pine" is the name most commonly applied to the longleaf in the Atlantic regions, and 
where it occurs associated with the shortleaf and loblolly the former is called "yellow pine" and 
the latter is called "shortleaf." The name "longleaf or long-leaved pine" is rarely heard in the 
field, "longstraw" being substituted. 

The greatest difference of names and consequent confusion exists in the case of the loblolly, 
due no doubt to the great variety of localities which it occupies and consequent variety of habit of 
growth and quality. "Swamp" and "sap-piue" refer to comparatively young growth of the 
loblolly, coarse-grained, recognized by the rather deep longitudinal ridges of the bark, growing on 
low ground. " Slash-pine" iu Virginia and North Carolina is applied to old well-developed trees of 
both loblolly and shortleaf; iu Florida it is exclusively applied to the Cuban pine. When applied 
to the loblolly it designates a tree of fine grain, one half to two-thirds sap, recognized by the bark 
being broken into large, broad, smooth i>lates. This same form is also called "shortleaf pine" iu 
North Carolina. 

"Roseinary-j)ine" is a name j)eculiar to a growth of loblolly in the swamp region of the Oaro- 
linas, representing fully grown trees, fine grained, large amount of heart, and excellent quality, 
now nearly exhausted. 

" Loblolly" or "old-field j)ine," as applied to Finns tecda, is a name given to the second growth 
springing up ou old fields in the North and South Carolinas, while in Alabama and Mississippi, 
etc., the "old-field" pine is applied to Pimis echinata. 

The confusion arises mainly from an indiscriminate use of local names and from ignorance as 
to the differences in characteristics of their lumber, as well as the difficulty in describing these. 
Besides the names used in designating different species, there are names used by lumbermen to 
designate differences of quality in the same species and, in addition, names used in the markets 
without good distinction, until it becomes almost impossible to unravel the multiplicity of desig- 
nations and define their meaning. Architects are apt to specify "Southern pine," not knowing 
that the greatest range of qualities can be supplied under that name; or refuse to accept "Texas" 
or "North Carolina ijine" for "Georgia pine," although the same pine and quality can be furnished 
from either State. Dealers handle "longleaf pine" fi'om Arkansas, where the timber that is 
understood by that name never grew. Millmen fill their orders for this pine, either overlooking 
differences or without knowing them. 



FIELD NAMES OF PINES. 



67 



The following table of commou names, which have been found applied to the four sijecies 
furnishing Southern pine lumber, will most readily exhibit the difficulty arising from misappre- 
hension of names. These names are used in the various markets and in various localities in the 
home of the trees. Where possible the locality in which the name is used has been placed in 
brackets by the side of the name. 

Names of Soutliern himier pines in use. 



Botanical names. 


Pinus palustris Miller. 


Pinus echinata Miller. 




Syn. P. australis Michs. 


Syn. Pinus mitis Michs. 

I'inus virginiana var. echinata Du Koi. 
P. Tceda var. vanabilis Alton. 
P. variabilus Lamb. 
P. rigida Porcber. 


Best common names. 


LONGLEAF PINE: 


Shortleaf PINE: 


Local, market, and lumliermen's 


Soulliern vellow pine. 


Yellow i>iiie (N. C.,Va.). 


names. 


Southern hard pine. 


Sbort-leaved yellow pine. 




Southern beart-pine. 


Short-leaved pine. 




Southern pitch-pine. 


Virginia yellow pine (in part). 




Hard pine (Miss., La.). 


North Carolina yellow pine (in part). 




Heart pine (N. C.and So. Atlantic). 


North Carolina pine (in part). 




Pitcb-pine (Atlantic). 


Slash-pine (N. C. Va.). in part. 




Long-leaved yellow pine (Atlantic). 


Old-field pine (Ala., Miss.). 




Long-leaved pine (Atlantic). 


Bull-pine (?). 




Long-leaved pitch-pine (Atlantic). 


Spruce-pine. 




Long-straw pine (Atlantic). 






North Carolina pitcb-pine. 






Georgia yellow pine. 




^ 


Georgia pine. 
Georgia heart-pine. 










Georgia long-leaved pine. 






Georgia pitch-pine. 






Florida ye,llow pine. 






Florida pine. 






Florida long-leaved pine. 






Texas yellow pine. 






Texas long-leaved pine. 




Botanical names. 


Pinux tcedaJjiuTi. 


Pinus cubensis Griesebacb. 




Syn. Pinus Tceda var. tenui/olia Alton. 


Syn. Pinits Tceda var. hetero-phylla Ell. 
P. elliotii Engelm. 
P. cuhnnsis var. terthrocarpa "Wright. 


Beat common names. 


Loblolly-pine : 




Local, market, and lumbermen's 


Slash-pine (Va., N. C), in part. 


Slash-pine (Ga., Fla.). 


names. 


Loblolly-pine (Gulf Kegion). 


Swamp pine (Fla. and Ala.), in part. 




Old-field pme (Gulf Region). 
Rusemary-pme (N. C, Va.). 


Bastard pine (Fla., Ala.). 




Meadow pine (Fla., E.Miss.), in part. 




Short-leaved pine (Va. N. C, S. C.). 


She pitch-pine (Ga.). 




Bull-pme (Texas and Gulf Kegion). 






Virginia pine. 






Sap-pine (Va., N. C.). 






Meadow pine (Fla.). 






Cornstalk pine(Va.). 






Black pine (Va.). 






Fox-tail pine (Va., Md.). 






Indian pine (Va., N". C). 






Spruce-pine (Va.), in part. 






Bastard pine (Va., N. C). 






Yellow pine (No Ala.,N.C.). 






Swamp pine (Va. N. C). 






Long-atraw pine (Va., N. C). in part. 





The botanical distinctions can be briefly tabulated as follows : 

Botanical diagnosis. 



Species. 


Pinus palustris Miller. 


Pinus cubensis Griseb, 




3 in a bundle, 9 to 12 (exceptionally 14 to 15) inches long.. 


2 and 3 in a bundle; 7 to 12 (usually 9 to 10) inches long. 
4 to 6J (usually 4 to 5) inches long; 3 to 4J inches in 

diameter. 
{I to 1 inch broad; tijis. wrinkled ; deep russet brown; 

shiny. 
Very short; straight; declined. 
About ^ inch long; ^ inch in diameter; brownish. 






1 to 1 inch broad; tips much wrinkled, light chestnut 
brown, gray with age. 




Buds 








Species. 


Pinus echinata Miller. 


Pinus tceda Linn. 


Leaves 


2 and 3 in a bundle; Ig to 4 inches long; commonly 2i^ to 

4 inches, 

1^ to 2 inches long; IJ to 1^ inches in diameter 

A to g (exceptionally about k) inch broad; tips light 

yellow-brown. 
Exceedingly short (jV inch) delicate; straight, declined .. 
g to J inch long ; about ^ inch in diameter ; brownish 


3 in a bundle, 5 to 8 inches long. 

2h to 4i inches long; IJ to 3 inches in diameter, 
f to J inch broad; tips smooth; dull yellow-brown. 

Short; stout at base. 

J to 5 inch long; ^ inch in diameter; brownish. 













68 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

In aspect and habit tlie lougleaf and Cuban pine somewliat resemble each other. The large 
silvery white buds of the longleaf pine, which constitutes its most strikiug character, and the 
candelabra-like naked branches with brush-like tufts of foliage at the end readily distinguish it 
from the Cuban pine, which bears a fuller and denser crown. The dark-green, glossy, and heavy 
foliage of the latter readily distinguishes this again from the loblolly, where these may appear 
associated, the latter having sea-green and thinner foliage. 

As a rule, the Cuban pine grows taller (up to 110 or 115 feet, with a diameter of 2 J to 3 feet) 
than the lougleaf, which rarely exceeds 105 feet and 20 to 36 inches in diameter. The Cuban pine 
forms massive horizontally spreading limbs, and at maturity a crown with rounded outlines. The 
longleaf pine forms a more flattened crown with massive but twisted gnarled limbs, which are 
sparingly branched. 

The thin bark of the longleaf (only one-quarter to one-half inch thick), of uniform reddish 
brown color throughout, exfoliates in thin, almost transparent, rhombic flakes; the thick bark of 
the Cuban pine of the same color exfoliates in very thin, broad, purplish flakes. 

The shortleaf pine is readily distinguished by the comparatively shorter and more scant 
appearance of its foliage. Moreover, this species is at once recognized by its characteristically 
small cones, Its habit is spreading, if compared with the more ascending, compact habit of the 
loblolly. At maturity the shortleaf has a much shorter bole (85 to 95 feet, diameter 1^ to 2 feet) 
than the loblolly (125 to 150 feet, diameter 4 to 5 feet), with which it is often associated, and a 
more pyramid-shaped crown. 

The reddish bark of the shortleaf in mature trees is broken into long plates, while the loblolly 
bark appears of grayish color and breaks into broader, larger, and more deei^ly fissured plates. 

Distribution and Habitat. 

The geographical distribution of the areas within which these four pines occur and their 
commercial development in them are shown in the accompanying maps, prepared by Dr. Charles 
Mohr for the monograph referred to. 

It is to be understood that not all the land within the boundaries indicated in the maps has 
been or is now covered by pine growth, but simply that within the lines the pines are found growing 
naturally. Nor is it to be understood that the areas which are indicated as producing a certain 
cut per acre do not contain places on which much more or much less lumber could be cut than the 
average figures given. These represent only a very general average for the region, based on 
conservative estimates, made for the purpose of showing more clearly the distribution in masses 
through the entire field of botanical distribution. 

These approximations do not pretend to serve as guides to the purchaser of timber lands 
further than to indicate in what regions he is likely to find the pine sought for in greatest abun- 
dance and best development. A lumber dealer may also learn at one glance that he can not 
possibly be supplied with longleaf pine from a mill in Arkansas, nor with shortleaf pine from a 
mill on the Gulf coast, unless it be supplied with logs fi'om inland. 

Within the boundaries of geographical distribution each species is found to occupy certain 
soils and sites, which form its habitat. The habitat of the pines in general is found on sandy and 
mostly well-drained soils. In regard to moisture conditions of the soil, the diflerent species adjust 
themselves differently. The longleaf pine is found ( only exceptionally otherwise) on the best- 
drained, deep, sandy, siliceous alluvium, while the Cuban pine is confined to the moister flats or 
pine meadows of the coast, and will grow closely down to the sandy swamps, not objecting to 
clayey admixtures in the soil, but shunning the dry, sandy pine hills. The shortleaf i^iue prefers 
a well-drained, light, sandy or gravelly clay soil or warm light loam, while the loblolly, often 
struggling with the shortleaf for the possession of the soil, can adapt itself to wetter situations. 

Extent of Meechantable Pine. 

The entire region within which these pines occur in merchantable condition comprises about 
230,000 square miles or, in round numbers, 147,000,000 acres; for laud in farms, etc., 10,000,000 
acres must be deducted, and allowing as much as two- thirds of the remainder as representing pine 
lands (the other to hard woods), we would have abou t 90,000,000 acres on which pine may occur. 
An average growth of 3,000 feet per acre — an extravagant figure when referred to such an area — 



CHARACTERISTICS OF DISTRIBUTION IN DIFFERENT REGIONS. 69 

would make the possible stand 270,000,000,000 feet, provided it was in virgin condition and not 
mostly culled or cut. 

The probability is that the amount of standing timber of such sizes as are at present market- 
able will fall far below 200,000,000, although by a reduction of the standard of marketable logs, 
which is now 8 to 10 inch as lowest diameters, it may be increased to 300,000,000 feet B. M., of 
which one-third may be accredited to the most valuable — the longleaf pine. The annual cut of 
these i)ines exceeds at present 7,000,000,000 feet B. M. 

Those who rely upon the spontaneous natural reproduction of these pines to fill the gaps made 
in the virgin timber will do well to read the chapters on natural reproduction in Dr. Mohr's mono- 
graph on these pines, and the incidental remarks regarding the conditions for renewal and the 
appearance of the aftergrowth. If, in addition, they study the chapters on conditions of develop- 
ment, they will realize that the longleaf pine is bound to disappear largely even in the regions where 
it reigned supreme; that the Cuban pine, no despicable substitute, will take its place in the lower 
pine belt if allowed to propagate at all; but on large burnt areas the growth of scrubby oaks and 
brush will forever exclude this species, which eminently needs light. Loblolly and shortleaf, better 
fitted for warfare with other species, will do much in their respective habitats to recuperate, except 
in the mixed forest, where they are culled and the hard woods are left to shade out the after- 
growth, or where the continuous conflagrations have destroyed the mold and aftergrowth and 
given over the soil to scrubby brush growth, which for ages will either prevent the gradual return 
of the pines or impede their renewal and growth. Considering that the timber on which we now 
rely and ou which we base our standards comes from trees usually from one hundred and fifty to 
two hundred years or more old, and that non«of these pines makes respectable timber in less thau 
from sixty to one hundred and twenty-five years, the necessity of timely attention to their renewal 
is further emphasized. 

Chabacteuistics of Distbibution in Different Regions, 
longleaf pine. 

This pine occurs in all the South Atlantic and Gulf States at some distance from the coast, 
covering a belt of about 125 miles in width, interrupted only by the alluvial plains of the Missis- 
sippi and Eed rivers in Louisiana and Texas. In addition, there is found in western Georgia and 
Alabama an extension in islands or patches northward to latitude 34.5'^. 

Within this range, going from the shore inland, the following divisions can be made: First, 
the coast jjlain, from 10 to 30 miles from seashore, contains only scattered growth on the grassy 
flats — the higher levels on which this pine prevailed are now mostly occupied by loblolly and 
Cuban pine; second, the rolling pine lands or pine barrens proper, covered with alluvial sands, 
are occupied almost entirely by this tree in perfection; third, the region of mixed growth, where 
this pine occupies in the main only the drift-covered ridges and is associated with the loblolly and 
shortleaf i^ines. Here it attains a larger size, with more full-sized trees per acre. 

In Virginia this pine is almost extinct and replaced by loblolly. In North Carolina, through 
the agricultural district, this pine is mixed with loblolly and shortleaf and is of little importance 
down to the Neuse Eiver. The forests exclusively of longleaf pine begin below Bogue Inlet, with 
a width of 9j to 125 miles inland, reaching down to the State line, covering about 6,500,000 acres; 
very largely tapped for turpentine. 

In South Carolina the pine belt is about 150 miles wide; is mainly occupied by this pine, but 
on the hill lands is intermixed with the shortleaf. The southwestern plateau, with a porous sand 
soil, furnishes timber of excellent quality, much of which is still untouched. 

In Georgia the flat woods of the shore are mostly stripped of this pine; the vast interior plain 
of about 17,000 square miles is almost exclusively covered with this tree. 

In Florida the belt of longleaf pine of the Atlantic coast may be traced as far south as St. 
Augustine, being thence southward largely replaced by the Cuban pine. On the Gulf side more 
important longleaf growth is found farther southward, until the savannas and everglades are 
reached, where again the Cuban pine replaces it. In western Florida large areas are pretty well 
exhausted. The Gulf coast pine belt, covering some 10,000 square miles to the Mississippi Eiver 
basin, shows no difference from the Atlantic forest. 



70 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

The Upper division of the pine belt or region of mixed growth in Alabama on a broken sur- 
face covers about 23,000 square miles, while the belt of drift deposit which crosses the State 
contains about 1,000 square miles, covered with longleaf pine of excellent quality and large yield 
per acre. The drift deposits along the Coosa Eiver, covering about 300,000 acres, and a detached 
portion of drift in Walker County of 60,000 acres, are covered with pine of fine quality hardly 
yet touched. 

Toward the west, in Louisiana, the coast-pine belt gradually passes into a mixed growth of 
shortleaf pine, oaks, and hickories on the uplands bordering the Mississippi. The slightly undu- 
lating flat woods of Louisiana sui)port a better timber growth than is generally found in the 
upland pine barrens; but this forest has been largely invaded, while the pine-hill region of 
Louisiana has remained almost untouched. The pine region west of the Mississippi Elver, limited 
to the sands and gravels of the region, follows on their eastern boundary the valley of the 
Ouachita Eiver for 150 miles. 

In the center of the region above the Eed Eiver pine ridges alternate with tracts of oak and 
hickory. Toward the Eed Eiver the forests covering the undulating pine lands remain practically 
unbroken to the Sabine Eiver. On the eastern side of the Eed Eiver the area is estimated at 
1,625,000 acres, extending northward an average distance of 55 miles, cutting from 4,000 to 6,000 
feet per acre, with no change in character to the Trinity Eiver in Texas. In that State the forests 
of longleaf pine cover about 5,000 square miles, merging toward the north into the region of 
shortleaf, toward the south into vast forests of loblolly pine. 

The fact that but little tapping for turpentine has been practiced In this region may be of 
importance from a market point of view. 

CUBAN PINE. 

This tree, which occurs mainly in the West Indies and South America, is confined within 
narrow limits in the United States, occupying the low coast plain of the Gulf States west of the 
Mississippi to a short distance beyond Pearl Eiver, and of the Atlantic coast as far north as lower 
South Carolina, near Charleston. It is rarely found more than 40 or 50 miles inland, on the 
so-called pine flats or pine meadows. Only in southern Florida does it cross from Gulf to Ocean 
on the low ridges through the everglades. It occurs either scattered through other forest growth 
of the swamps or in groves along the borders of sandy swamps above perjietual overflow, mixed 
with longleaf or, more rarely, loblolly pine, excepting south of Cape Canaveral and Biscayne Bay, 
where it forms open forests by itself. Being able to thrive on pure sand as well as on the clay 
soils with poorer drainage, it is apt to crowd out the young growth of longleaf pine when the old 
trees of the latter have been cut. It is indiscriminately cut and made into lumber together with 
the longleaf pine without distinction. Its field of distribution is indicated on the map of the 
longleaf pine by patched area. 

SHORTLEAF PINE. 

This tree is more widely distributed than any of the other x^ines, namely, from the southern 
shores of Connecticut, where it occurs only scattered, to the treeless plains of Kansas and south- 
ward in the main to the northern line of the main body of the longleaf forests. It is mostly 
associated with 'deciduous-leaved trees, becoming the predominant forest growth in parts of 
northern Alabama, Mississippi, and western Louisiana. In northeastern Texas and southern 
Arkansas it covers large areas, to the exclusion of almost every other tree. While in the early 
history of this country this pine seems to have beeen a staple along the Atlantic coast up to New 
York, it occurs now only scattered and in commercially unimportant quantities north of Virginia. 
From here southward it covers large areas, occupying the higher inland parts of the maritime 
pine belt, mixed with other coniferous and deciduous growth, and throughout the interior of the 
Southern States into the mountainous region. 

In North Carolina it is found from the coast to the mountains, and once formed about 2") per 
cent of the forest growth, now largely reduced. In South Carolina and Georgia it is similarly 
mixed in the upland forests of oak and hickory. 

In Florida it is confined along the northern border of the State to a narrow strip of ujilands, 
with a mixed growth of longlenf and hard-wood timber; in western Florida, where it is more rare, 
approaching the Gulf within 25 miles. 



CHARACTERISTICS OF THE WOODT 71 

In Alabama and Mississippi it forms the larger part of the interior upland forest, in some 
sections becoming the prevailing tree, especially in the Warrior coal fields and in the northern 
part of the central drift belt to northeastern Mississippi, while it is more sparsely scattered through 
the growth of the upper coast pine belt. 

But its best development evidently lies west of the Mississippi, occurring in greatest abundance 
and perfection in northeastern Texas, northwestern Louisiana, and southern Arkansas. In Texas, 
east of the Trinity Eiver, it forms dense forests almost entirely by itself. 

North of the Arkansas River it is found in smaller or larger areas, scattered through the 
upland regions to central Missouri. It is the pine of the Indian Territory, where large bodies 
occur, and of southwestern Missouri, and occurs also in Kansas as far north as the Osage River. 

It is less frequent in Kentucky and Tennessee, being more confined to the eastern portions 
of those States. Only a single station is reported from southern Illinois, and its occurrence in 
the other parts of the field of distribution is mainly of botanical interest. 

Since this tree occurs mainly in mixtures of different degree with other timbers, it is impos- 
sible to state yield per acre in general. In its western range, where it predominates, a cut of 
3,500 to 4,000 feet B. M. per acre may be assumed. On the Atlantic coast supplies are largely 
reduced. 

A rough guess places the possible standing timber of this species at 160,000,000,000 feet B. M. 

LOBLOLLY PINE. 

This pine is found in all the Southern States excepting Kentucky and Missouri, with its 
northernmost limit on the banks of the Rappahannock, below Washington, D. G. On the Atlantic 
slope it occupies the flat lands of the tidewater districts, eitlier mixed with other species or 
forming compact bodies of timber. In Virginia it forms about 75 per cent of the timber standing 
east of the Eichmoud-Petersbnrg line, rapidly taking possession of abandoned fields. In North 
Carolina it associates with the longleaf pine, and is especially well developed in the low rich soil 
of the swamp borders, but here largely exhausted. Farther south in the pine barrens the longleaf 
pine prevails, and the loblolly is found only on the low borders of swamps and streams. In the 
Carolinas and Georgia it is also found inland to the foot of the mountains. In Florida it is rare, 
except in the northern part, being replaced southward by the Florida old-field pine (P. elausa). 

About one-half of the pine timber on the flat, badly drained table-lands of the Warrior coal 
field in north Alabama consists of this pine, forming compact bodies of heavy timber or associated 
with hard woods. It abounds in Louisiana and southern Texas, in the flat woods bordering the 
coast marshes, and in the latter State an area of fully 6,800 square miles, south of the shortleaf 
pine uplands and west of the longleaf area, is covered by an almost continuous forest of the 
loblolly, of excellent growth, yielding from 4,500 to 5,000 feet per acre on the average. 

Characteristics of the Wood. 

No more difficult task could be set than to describe on paper the wood of these pines, or to 
give the distinctive features so that the kinds can be distinguished and recognized by the 
uninitiated. Only the combined simultaneous impressions upon all the senses permit the expert to 
make sure of distinguishing these woods without being able to analyze in detail the characters by 
which he so distinguishes them. While in many cases there would be no hesitation in referring a 
given stick to one or the other species, others may be found in which the resemblance to more 
than one species is so close as to make them hardly distinguishable. The following attempt to 
diagnose these woods must, therefore, be taken only as an imperfect general guide. So far, even 
microscopic examination has not furnished unfailing signs. Color is .so variable that it can hardly 
serve as a distinguishing feature. The direction of the cut, roughness of surface, exudation 
of resin, condition of health, width of grain, moisture condition, even the mode of drying, 
exposure, etc., all h'ave their share in giving color to the wood. Bearing in mind this great 
complication of color effects, it will be granted that descriptions of the same, disturbed by 
peculiarities of each separate observer, will aid but little in identifying the woods. 

The sapwood of all the pines looks very nearly alike, and so does the heartwood. The color 
of the spring wood in the sap is a light yellowish with a shade of brown; the summer wood 
contains more brown, variable with the density of the cells and appearing darker when the bands 



72 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



are more abruptly separated from the spring wood. The heartwood shows a markedly darker 
color with a reddish Hesh-color tinge added. 

It is perhaps easiest to distinguish the wood of the longleaf and Gubau pines from that of 
the shortleaf and loblolly. It is also possible to keep apart the longleaf from the Cuban ; but 
while, iu general, the shortleaf and loblolly can be more or less easily distinguished by color or 
grain, some forms of the latter (rosemary pine) so nearly resemble the former that no distinguishing 
feature is apparent. 

The most ready means for distinguishing the four seems to be the specific gravity or weight 
in connection with the grain. The proportion of sap and heartwood will also be an aid iu 
recognizing a log or log-run lumber iu the pile. These distinctive features are tabulated as follows, 
the figures representing average conditions of merchantable timber and mature trees: 



Diagnostic features of the wood. 



Name of Species. 


Longleaf pine. 
{Finns palustris Miller.) 


Cuban pine. 
(Pinus heterophylla (Eli) Sudw.). 




. 50 to . 90 

. 55 to . 65 

36 

Fine and even; annual rings quite uniformly 
narrow on large logs, averaging generally 
20 to 25 rings to the inch. 

Even dark: reddish-yellow to reddish-brown .. 

Lit lie; rarely over 2 to 3 inches of radius 

"Very abundant; parts often turning into 
"light wood; " pitchy throughout. 


. 50 to . 90 


kiln-dried wood. I Most frequeut range 

"Weight, pounds per cubic foot, kiln-dried 

wood, average. 
Character of grain seen in cross section 


. 55 to . 70 
37 

Variable and coarse; rings mostly wide, 
averaging on larger logs 10 to 20 rings to the 
inch. 


•^finwnnfl Tirnnnri^n-n 




T?esiin ' 






than Longleaf; "bleeds" freely, yielding 
little scrape. 


Name of species. 


Shortleaf pine. 
[Pinus eehinata Miller.) 


Loblolly pine. 
(Pinus toeda Linn.). 




. 40 to . 80 

.45 to. 55 

30 

Very variable ; medium coarse; rings wide 
near heart, followed by zone of narrow 
rings; not less tlian 4 (mostly about 10 to 
15) rings to the inch, but often very fine- 
grained. 

■Whitish to reddish-brown. 


.40 to. 80 


kiln-dried wood. \ Most frequent range 

"Weight, pounds per cubic foot, kiln-dried 

wood, average. 
Character of grain seen in cross-section 


. 45 to . 55 
31 

Variable, mostly A^ery coarse; 3 to 12 rings to 
the inch, generally wider than in shortleaf. 








Moderately abundant, least pitchy; only near 
stumps, knots, and limbs. 






Longleaf and Cuban, but does not " bleed " 
if taxjped. 



Quality and Adaptation op Woods. 

The exhaustive research described in another part of tWs report has given a full answer to 
this part of the inquiry. 

The longleaf pine is superior wherever strength and durability are required. In tensile 
strength it approaches, and may surpass, east iron. In cross-breaking strength it rivals the oaks, 
requiring 10,000 pounds per square inch on the average to break it, while in stiffness it is superior, 
to the oak by from 50 to 100 per cent. It is best adapted for principal members of heavy con- 
st'fuction, for naval architecture, for bridges, trestles, viaducts, and hoitse building. The finer- 
grained, and especially the curly, timber is much sought for finishing wood. Its hardness fits it for 
planks and flooring, but unless quarter-sawed it is apt to " peel out." Being very resinous, it is 
sometimes difficult to handle in dry kilns, nor does it take paint readily; its hardness also makes 
it difficult to work, wearing out tools and muscles. The curly grained himber, which is found 
quite frequently, makes an elegant finishing and furniture wood. It is an excellent fuel, and its 
resinous products supply the world with pitch, resin, and turi^entine. Contrary to common belief, 
the tapping for turpentine was found, by a large number of tests lately made under direction of 
this division, not to weaken but to strengthen the timber in cross-breaking and compression and 
to increase its stiffness. (See full discussion in report on timber physics.) 

The Cuban pine, mostly known locally as slash pine, is generally cut and sold without distinc- 
tion from tlie longleaf, and its wood, if not superior in some respects, is probably not inferior in 
any to the latter, except as far as its coarser grain and larger amount of sapwood may influence 



USE OF WOOD. 73 

its usefulness. The tests of the Tenth Census would make its mechanical properties even superior 
to those of the longleaf. 

The sbortleaf pine, comparatively free from resinous matter, softer, capable of sood finish, 
and more easily worked, furnishes a lumber better adapted to the use of the joiner, cabinetmaker' 
and carpenter than the other two. Tbere being more sapwood in the log-run lumber and greater 
variation in its growth, more need for grading exists. 

Until within two decades or so this lumber did not find ready market outside of its home, because 
the sapwood was apt to " blue;" but with the dry kiln these objections have been overcome, and it 
now finds wide application lor lighter framework, weatherboarding (taking paint more readily 
than the longleaf pine), for flooring, ceiling, wainscoting, window casings, and sash and doors, and 
for shingles. It is also adapted for building of railroad cars and manufacture of furniture. In 
cross-breaking strength it is at least 25 per cent weaker than the longleaf, although occasional 
sticks are found as strong. In stiffness the difference is not so great on the average, but the best 
stick so far tested falls 20 per cent below the best longleaf. In shearing strength, however, it 
seems to equal the latter, showing that, although weaker, its cell elements are as firmly knit 
together. 

The loblolly pine varies still more greatly in quality than the shortleaf pine, growing as it 
does under the most varied conditions. Flence opinions as to its value vary widely, and its use- 
fulness is but imperfectly understood, except perhaps in some parts of its home, like lower 
Virginia, -where most of the houses were built of this pine. Grown slowly on the poorer or wetter 
soils, at higher elevations and in a more northern climate, it produces more heartwood and belter 
quality, while the rank growth on better soils presents a sappy, light, coarse-grained wood, soft, 
and quick to decay. In ISTorth Carolina, where it occupies the swamp borders, the variety, or 
rather the "quality," known as "rosemary" or "slash" pine, now nearly exhausted, furnishes a 
timber from long and large old trees in no way inferior to the shortleaf, which it closely resembles 
and approaching even the longleaf. ' 

Strength and durability it does uot possess in great measure, but, properly seasoned, it fur- 
nishes a timber suitable for many purposes. Yet the timber tested from north Alabama seems to 
equal, if not surpass, in strength and stiffness the shortleaf from the same region. It is perfectly 
suited for rough work, joists and scantling, studding, and common boards, and about 75 per cent 
of the material for this purpose used in the markets of Baltimore and Washington comes from this 
pine, and the bulk is sawed in Caroline County, Va. Much is also used in Philadelphia. The 
best grades are selected for flooring, siding, and inside finish, although its liability to shrink, 
unless thoroughly seasoned, makes the propriety of this use doubtful. As cord wood it reaches 
also more northern markets (jSTew York), and where a brisk flame with quick heat is desired, as 
in bakeries, brickyards, and potteries, it is very good. The name under which this lumber goes 
is Virginia pine, although I have found builders calling it "yellow pine" and "Iforth Carobna" 
pine. Since this pine is of rapid growth, quickly occupying old abandoned fields and making 
saw logs in fifty years, it promises to become one of the prominent staples of our lumber market. 
In North Carolina only the better quality is cut and sold indiscriminately with the shortleaf 
as "North Carolina" pine, while in the Gulf States east of the Mississippi but little is cut, and 
that only on special orders for inferior work (except in north Alabama). In Texas, however, 
where this pine abounds in perfection, 25 and more per cent of the lumber handled is loblolly' 
although at Beaumont, the principal point of lumber production, but little of this material was 
found at the mills. In Arkansas it is called " longleaf pine," and some Northern lumber yards 
which must have longleaf pine from Arkansas seem to supply themselves with this material. It is 
tapped for turpentine wherever found in the turpentine orchard, yielding a more fluid resin than 
the longleaf pine. 

A fuller statement of the (piality of the wood of these pines will be found in another part of 
this report. 

Use op Wood. 

In its use the wood of all four species is applied much alike. The coarse-grained, heavy, 
resinous forms are especially suited for timbers and dimension stuff; while the fine-grained wood, 
whatever species it may come from, is used for a great variety of finishing purposes. 



74 rORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

Formerly these pines, except for local and house use, were mostly cut or hewn into timbers, 
but now especially since the introduction of dry kilns, Southern pine is cut into every form and 
grade of lumber. Nevertheless a large proportion of the total cut, especially of the longleaf pine, 
is still sawed to order in sizes above C by 6 inches and lengths above 20 feet for timbers, for which 
the longleaf and Cuban pine furnish the ideal materials. 

The resinous conditions of these two pines maike them also most desirable for railway ties of 
lasting quality. 

Since the custom of painting and graining woodwork has given way to natural grain with oil 
finish, the wood of these hard pines is becoming very popular for inside finish. 

Kiln-drying is successfully practiced with all four species, but especially with the Shortleaf 
and Loblolly pines which, if not artificially seasoned, are liable to "blue." The wood can be dried 
without great injury at high temperatures. 

Growth and Dbvblopmbnt. 
longleaf pine. 

In a fruitful year, before the close of the season, with the advent of si)ring, a dry and sunny 
state of the atmosphere favoring the fall of the seed, the seedlings are found to come up abun- 
dantly in every opening of the forest where the rays of the sun strike the dry ground. The lower 
(hypocotyledonary) part of the axis of the plantlet is close to the ground, with eight to ten erect 
cotyledons from 1 to li inches in length, their tips inclosed in the shell of the seed, with the long 
wing persistent and borne banner-like at the top of the plantlet. (See PI. X, a.) The elongation 
of the ascending axis proceeds slowly, growth in length being retarded until a certain thickness 
has been attained, resembling in this respect the growth of the stem of endogenous trees. 

Upon examination of a seedling in the latter part of April the cotyledons had disappeared 
and the caulicle was found to be from one-eighth to one-fourth of an inch long, its length not 
exceeding its diameter, hidden by a dense tuft of the needle-shaped primary leaves, which closely 
invest the terminal bud. At this stage a few fascicles of secondary leaves are already showing 
themselves, still inclosed in their sheaths. 

During the first three or four years its energy of growth is mainly expended upon the 
development of its powerful root system. (See PL X, e.) Before the first spring season has 
passed, the stout spindle-shaped taproot of the seedling is found to be over 3 inches in length 
and provided with several fine lateral rootlets, sometimes nearly as long as the main root. 

With the opening of June the primary leaves covering the axis are nearly all withered, only 
a few remaining to the end of the season. With the development of the suppressed secondary 
axes from which the foliage leaves proceed, the primary leaves are reduced to chaffy fimbriate 
bracts. Only a few of these primary leaves retain the needle-shaped form and green color, namely, 
those from which no leaf-bearing branchlets were developed. During the first season many of the 
fascicles of the foliage leaves contain only two leaves, and sheaths inclosing only one leaf are 
frequently observed. 

By the end of the first year the stem of the plantlet is rarely over three-fourths of an inch in 
length, the main root having attained a length of from 8 to 10 inches. 

Having reached the end of the second year the taproot is found from 2 to 3 feet in length, the 
stem scarcely li inches long, with an increase of diameter hardly i)erceptible. The conical ter- 
mination of the spring shoot is now densely covered with the delicately fringed bracts inclosing 
the buds of the foliage leaves, which impart to it the appearance of a silvery white tuft, by which 
this species is recognized at first sight. 

Dui'ing the following two years the growth proceeds but slowly, the length by the end of the 
fourth year averaging not more than 5 inches with a thickness of three-fourths to seven-eighths 
of an inch. During the same time the taproot is found to gain constantly both in thickness and 
length. (See PI. X, e.) A few single branches now make their appearance on the main axis. 
The increase of growth from one season to another up to the seventh or eighth year is difficult to 
follow, since the difference in the appearance of the spring and summer wood cells in the si^ongy 
wood of young trees is hardly perceptible, and the rings of annual growth, even as seen in cross 
sections prepared for microscopical examination, are mostly too indistinct to afford a safe criterion . 




LoNGLEAF Pine iPinus palustrisj Typical Tree. 




PINUS PALUSTRIS: SEEDLINGS AND YOUNQ PLANT. 

, germiaating seed; fc, young seedling just unfolded; c, seedling unfolding primary leaves ; d, foliage leaves at end of season; e, young tree, 3 to 4 years old- 

one-third natural size. ' 



GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT. 75 

of tbeir age. As far as coakl be observed the growth proceeds equally slowly during the fifth and 
sixth years, the plant at the end of that period being from 5 to 7 or 7J inches in length. 

Stage of rapid groirth. — With its seventh year the tree may be said to enter on its most 
vigorous growth. Henceforth the stem (primary axis) increases rapidly in length, and the 
development of branches (lateral axes) proceeds at an equal rate in regular whorls, to which the 
symmetry of the tree in that stage of its development is due. During the seventh year, generally, 
the tree doubles its length, and during a number of successive years the rate of growth in that 
direction varies between 10 and 20 inches annually, as is clearly shown by the length of the 
internodes separating the whorls. As the branches increase in length tliey produce, in the same 
order mostly, two opposite secondary branches. With the rapid expansion of the leaf surface, 
the formation of wood keeps pace. The rate of growth in diameter, as well as in heiglit, during 
this period is, of course, variable according to differences in the physical condition of the soil, as 
well as in the available amount of plant food and moisture it contains, and no less upon differences 
in temi^erature and of exposure to light and air. 

When the tree has reached its second decade it begins to produce flowers and fruit. Having 
during the course of the following fifteen years reached a length of from 40 to 45 feet, with the 
main stem clear of limbs, the growth of branches does not j)roceed with the same regularity; 
consequently they are no longer arranged in regular whorls, but appear irregularly, and thus the 
symmetry of the tree is lost. 

Stage of slow grotcth. — Eapid as is the increase in length of the primary axis or trunk, amount- 
ing during the first half century, in the average, to 14 or 15 inches annually, the rate is subse- 
quently greatly diminished, averaging from the fiftieth to about the one hundred and fifteenth 
year but from 4 to 5 inches, and from this time to the age of two hundred and fifty years only IJ 
inches — that is, at a relative rate of 10, 3, and 1 in the three successive i^eriods. The decrease in 
the accretion of wood corresponds with the reduction in the growth of the branches and conse- 
quent reduction of foliage. From what has been said, it is seen that the longleaf pine attains 
maturity of growth, with the best qualities of its timber, at an age of from one hundred and eighty 
to two hundred years. After having passed the second century the trees are found frequently to 
be wind shaken and otherwise defective. The deterioration of the weather-beaten crown lessens 
the vitality of the tree, and the soil, under prevailing conditions, becomes less and less favorable. 
In consequence, the trees become liable to disease and mostly fall prey to the attacks of parasitic 
fungi (red heart). Instances of trees which have reached the maximum age of two hundred and 
seventy-five or three hundred years are exceptional. 

In order to ascertain the age required to furnish merchantable timber of first quality, meas- 
urements were made of a number of logs in a log camp in the rolling pine uplands of the lower 
division of the coastal pine belt near Lumberton, Washington County, Ala. From the results 
obtained it appears that in this section of the eastern Gulf region, at the lowest figure, two 
hundred years are requisite to produce logs of the dimensions at present cut at the sawmills. 

Demands upon soil and climate. — In its demands upon the soil this pine is to be counted among 
the most frugal, as far as mineral constituents, which are considered as plant food, are concerned, 
if only the mechanical conditions which influence favorable soil moisture are not wanting. It 
thrives best on a light siliceous soil, loamj^ sand or pebbles or light sandy loam, with a slightly 
clayey subsoil sufficiently i^orous to insure at least a partial underdrainage and to permit unim- 
peded development of the long taproot. Whenever the tree meets an obstacle to the development 
of this root it remains more or less stunted. 

The luxuriance of the growth and increase in size of the timber, however, is greatly influ- 
enced by the quantity of clay present, particularly in the deep subsoil, which improves aiechanical 
and moisture conditions. This is strikingly exhibited in the timber of the level pine flats west of 
the Mississippi Eiver, although the surface drainage is almost wanting and the underdrainage 
through the loamy strata slow, so that the surface of the soil remains damp or water-soaked for 
the greater part of the year ; the stand of timber of first-class dimensions exceeds considerably 
that of the rolling pine uplands on the Atlantic slope aud the lower part of the pine belt in the 
eastern Gulf region, which are poorer in clay. Evidently, although the underdrainage is less 
perfect, the moisture conditions during the dry season of the year, the time of most active growth, 
must be most favorable. The same fact is apj)arent in the upper part of the coast pine belt in 



76 . FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

Alabama and Mississippi, where, upon tlie same area, witli a smaller number of trees, tlie crop of 
timber may be considered almost twice as heavy as that found on the pine barrens proper farther 
south. On the soil of fine, closely compacted sand, entirely deficient in drainage as found in the 
so-called pine meadows along the coast of western Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi, as well as 
on the siliceous rocky ridges of central and northern Alabama, the tree is so stunted as to be of 
little or no value for its timber. 

"It is neither temperature alone, nor rainfall and moisture conditions of the atmosphere alone, 
' that influence tree growth, but the relation of these two climatic factors, which determines the 
amount of transpiration to be performed by the foliage, and again with most species we must place 
this transpiration movement into relation with available soil moisture, in order to determine what 
the requirements and the most suitable habitat of the species are" (B. E. Fernow). Hence we find 
that east of the Mississippi River the longleaf pine occurs in greatest frequency along the isotherm 
of 60O F. ranging to 34° north latitude, while west of the Mississippi it follows a line between 
the isotherms of 63° and 64° F. and is scarcely found north of the thirty-second parallel of north 
latitude. Within this area of its distribution it is exposed to wide variation of temperature and 
moisture conditions. 

Under the influence of the vapor-laden breezes from the Mexican Gulf and an evenly dis- 
tributed rainfall ranging from 42 to G3 inches during the year, the longleaf pine appears of the 
same thrift and vigor of growth in the interior of Alabama under 34° to 35° north latitude, 
with the thermometer falling as low as i° F. (16o 0.) and a range of temperature of 93° (at Tusca- 
loosa), as it is found in the subtropical belt of the coast with a maximum temperature of 105° F. 
(40° (J.) and a range of temperature of 94° west of the Mississippi Eiver, although the temperature 
reaches rarely a minimum of IS-' and 12°, respectively, at the northern limit of the tree in these 
States, the diminished humidity of the atmosphere and lesser rainfall, particularly during the 
warmer season, account for its absence. There can be no doubt that the greater exposure to the 
violence of the sudden gusts of dry and cold wind known in Texas as "dry northers" exercises 
also no small influence in limiting the longleaf pine. 

Associated species. — The longleaf pine is eminently a gregarious tree, covering areas of wide 
extent, to the almost complete exclusion of any other species. In the flat woods of the coastal plain, 
pai'ticularly near its northern limit on the Atlantic slope, it is not infrequently associated with the 
loblolly pine; farther south and along the Gulf coast to the Mississippi River, more or less fre- 
quently with this tree and the Cuban pine. In the upper part of the maritime pine belt it not 
rarely occurs together with the shortleaf pine and the loblolly pine intermixed with the deciduous 
trees of the uplands, viz, the black oak, Spanish oak, black-jack, bitternut, mockernut hickories, 
and black gum. 

It will be apparent, from what has been said regarding the demands for light, that the asso- 
ciated species must be either slower growers or later comers, if the longleaf pine is to survive in 
the mixture. As has been pointed out elsewhere, with the culling of the longleaf pine from the 
mixed growths it must soon cease to play a part in them, since its renewal under the shade of the 
remaining associates is impossible. 

Enemies. — The greatest danger threatening the existence of the forests of longleaf pine must 
be ascribed to the agency of man, since their destruction is caused chiefly by the reckless manner 
in which they are depleted without heed to recuperation. The right of ownership has been gen- 
erally acquired on such low terms that since no value has been attached to the land without the 
timber, despoliation has been carried on with no other object than the quickest return of 
pecuniary j)roflts. 

Exploitation. — Such management could not but entail tremendous waste, a large percentage 
of the body of the trees felled being left on the ground to rot or to serve as fuel for the conflagrations 
which scour these woods almost every year. Infinitely greater than the injuries inflicted upon the 
forest by the logger and by getting out cross-ties and hewn square timber, which consist chiefly 
in the accumulation of combustible waste, are those caused by the production of naval stores. 
When the fact is considered that the production of the 40,000 barrels of spirits of turpentine, 
which on an average during the latter half of this decade annually reached the market of Mobile 
alone, implies the devastation of about 70,000 acres of virgin forest, the destruction caused by this 
industry appears in its full enormity. Under the management of the turpentine orchards 




O HE'OSMAin\.$Z 



LoNQLEAF Pine (Pinus palustris Mill.i: Bud and Leaf 




LoNGLEAF Pine (Pinus pauustris) : Male and Female Flowers. 

a fi-uiting branch with female aments at tip, and one and two seasons' cones; b. maleaments; f, female ament; d. saed-beai-ing scales; c, /, male aments 
' g, detached anthers; It, i, detached lemale flowers. 




LoNGLEAF Pine (Pinus palustris Mill.): Fruit. 

a, open cone, natural size; b, c, detached scales, dorsal and ventral; d, e,f, g, seeds with wing-s. 



CUBAN PINE. 77 

prevailing- at present, trees of such small size are tapped that they are unable to resist the force 
of the winds, and in a few years are inevitably prostrated, while the larger trees, weakened by the 
severe gashes on almost every side, become largely wind-shaken and the timber after a few years 
almost worthless. 

While a judicious tapping is not only justified, but demanded, by an economic system of 
exiiloitation, the prevailing methods of orcharding are unnecessarily destructive. 

The tapping of sapling timber not yet ripe for the saw, and the destructive fires started in 
connection with this industry, annihilating all young growth, prevent any renewal of the forest, 
while the working of large bodies of timber years before milling facilities are available leads often 
to a loss of 20 iier cent and more in both quality and quantity of the merchantable product. 

Fires. — The greatest injury to which the pine forests are subject in consequence of turpentine 
orcharding arises from the fires which are started every spring for the purpose of getting rid of 
the combustible matter raked from around the tapped trees in order to protect them from accidental 
conflagrations while they are worked. These forest fires, spreading far beyond their intended 
limits, destroy eutirelj»the youngest progeny of the pines, stunt the growth of the more advanced 
trees, aud cause the ruin of a large number of older ones in the abandoned turpentine orchards. 
Burning deeply into the gashes aud other exposed surfaces of the tapped trees, these fires hasten 
their prostration by the gales. Moreover, the fire causes cracks in the surfaces laid bare by the 
ax and the puller occasions greater exposure to atmospheric action, thus inducing more or less 
rapid decay. A test, made by sawiug through twenty-two logs taken at random from a turpentine 
orchard after it had beeu abandoned for a period of sixteen to eighteen years, showed that about 
one-half of the timber was i^artially decayed and shaky. 

Besides the production of naval stores as a cause of forest fires, there is another scarcely less 
potent. This is the practice prevailing among the settlers of burning the woods upon the approach 
of every spring in order to hasten the growth of grass for their famished stock. Fires are also 
frequently started through the carelessness of loggers and hunters, in the preparation of the ground 
for tillage, and by sparks from locomotives. These tires, occurring at least once during every 
year, cause the total destruction of the young growth of the longleaf piue. The danger to this 
species is much greater than to any other Southern wood, because of the greater length of time it 
requires to reach a size at which it can offer some resistance to fire. In the open forest of longleaf 
pine the fires are not so destructive to the larger timber as in the dense forests of coniferous 
trees further north, trees of larger size being, with some exceptions, but slightly, if at all, directly 
damaged. 

Another serious damage, however, resulting from the frequent recurrence of fires is the 
destruction of all vegetable matter in the soil. Deprived of the mulching needed for the retention 
of moisture, the naturally porous and dry soil, now rendered absolutely arid aud barren, is no longer 
capable of supporting any larger tree growth or other useful vegetation. 

Live stocl: — Of no less danger to the existence of the forests of longleaf pine is the injury 
caused by live stock. This agency, slow in its action, is sure to lead to their destruction unless 
restricted to some extent. Beside the damage due to the trampling down and mutilation of the 
young growth by herds of cattle roaming through the woods, the smaller domestic animals — goats 
and sheep — eat the tufts of the tender fohage of the seedlings, while liogs are seen digging up and 
chewing the spongy and tender roots of the young i>lants. As a further agency in the way of the 
renewal of this species, the destruction of the mature cones might be mentioned, caused principally 
by the squirrels, which jieel off the scales clean to the core in search of the sweet, nutritious seed. 

Storms. — Full-gTowu trees are frequently uprooted by the hurricanes which from time to time 
pass through the pine belt. Those having the taproot shortened by impeneti^able layers of 
indurated clay, interposed in the subsoil at varying depths, are invariably the first victims of the 
high winds. In trees grown in such places the taproot is found with a tumid and round base as 
smooth as if polished. 

CUBAN PINE. 

This is the earliest flowering of the Southern pines. The buds of the male flowers make their 
appearance in the early part of December, and the flowers open during the last days of January 
aud during the first week of February, This species produces abundant crops of cones every year, 



78 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

almost without failure; they ripen in the fall of the second year; the seeds are discharged through 
the winter of the second year until spring. Germinating easily, their seedlings are found to come 
up copiously from early in the spring to the begiuuiiig of the summer in old fields and on every 
opening in the vicinity of the parent trees, wherever the rays of the suu reach the ground. The 
plantlets bear six to seven seed-leaves (cotyledons;. As soon as these have fairly expanded the 
terminal bud develops rapidly, and the first internode of the stem, increasing quickly in length, is 
densely covered with the soft, narrow, linear, pointed, primary leaves, which are fully an inch long. 
Before the end of the second month, in the axils of some of the leaves, the undeveloped branchlets, 
bearing the fascicle of the foliage leaves, make their appearance. With the further development 
of the foliage leaves, increasing in number during the growing season, the primary leaves wither 
away. By the close of the first season the plantlets are from 8 to 9 inches high, with a very 
slender taproot and many lateral rootlets near its upper end. After the beginning of the second 
season but few of the primary leaves are found to support the buds of the foliage leaves. The 
tendency to the production of secondary axes becomes manifest by the appearance of a single 
branchlet; on having reached the end of their second year the plants awe from 12 to 15 inches 
high, with a taproot not more than i inches long; at the end of their third year they average little 
less than 2 feet in height, with the taproot G inches long — the laterals being much longer. The 
crown from this period develops in regular whorls for a long succession of years. 

The Cuban pine, in its rate of growth and when fully grown, exceeds in its dimensions the 
longleaf pine. The taproot, less powerful than in its allies, is assisted by rnighty lateral roots 
running near the surface of the ground to support the tall, sturdy trunk, rising to a height of 110 
or 115 feet, with a diameter of 2J, not uufrequently exceeding 3, feet, clear of limbs for a height of 
from 60 to 70 feet above the ground. The heavy limbs are horizontally spreading, from 22 to 24 
feet at their greatest length, somewhat irregularly disposed; they form in the trees of full growth 
a rather dense crown of rounded outline. Trees of the dimensions mentioned, having passed the 
fullness of their growth, are found to be from one hundred to one hundred and forty years old, 
according to the surrounding conditions. The thick bark is of a clear, reddish color, laminated, 
and exfoliating in thin, broad, purplish flakes. 

Seedlings of the longleaf pine, which those of the Cuban pine somewhat resemble, can be 
readily distinguished at this period by the disproportion of height and diameter and absence of 
branch growth in the former. The rate of growth differs, of course, according to the conditions 
of soil and exposure. 

Saplings showing five rings of annual growth were found from 4^ to nearly 6 feet in height, 
with a diameter of from three-fourths to seven-eighths of an inch; between the age of from ten 
to twelve years the trees measure from 10 to 18 feet in height, with the stem clear for over half 
its length — even when grown in the open — and from 2 up to 4 inches in diameter. From this 
stage on the rate of growth ijroceeds most rapidly. At eighteen and twenty years heights of 40 
to 50 feet and over, and diameters from 9 to 10 inches across the stump, cut close to the ground, 
are attained. 

Soil. — For its best development the Cuban pine requires a light, sandy, but constantly damj) 
soil, which is attained where the sandy surface is underlaid by a loamy subsoil retentive of 
moisture but sufficiently loose to give the roots unhindered access. Such conditions are found on 
the lands rising above the peri)etually wet swamps. On the flats, with a soil of fine, compact 
sand, devoid of all drainage and underlaid by a hardpan, where nothing but the saw palmetto 
api)ears to thrive, the tree remains of low, stunted growth, scarcely ever reaching medium size. 
In the depth of the swamp, with the soil wet and slushy throughout the year, where the tree is 
commonly met with, closely surrounded by white bay, red bay, black gum, titi, and white cedar 
towering high above it, it is of slow growth and frequently affected by red heart or red rot, partic- 
ularly near its northern limit. It is never found in alluvial bottoms, and eschews the dry, pine- 
barren hills, requiring a moderate but sure and even supply of soil moisture. 

Climate. — The range of its distribution coincides with the area of greatest rainfall in the 
Southern States, which, evenly distributed through all seasons, amounts for the year, in the mean, 
to 60 and 64 inches. 

The Cuban pine demands a warm climate, free from excesses in the range of temperature, as 
is aflbrded by the vicinity of the sea. It is found in greatest abundance and most perfect within 



Plate XIV. 




^ ^ / ^ 



C.CLSlENSki =ii£. 



Cuban Pine (Pinus heterophylla (eii.) Sudw.; 



O.HBIOEy[f\N S: 



, closed ODne; 6, open cone; c, apophyses; d, cone scales, dorsal and 



ventral view; e,f, g, seed and seed wings, doi-sal and ventral vi( 



SHORTLEAF PINE. 79 

the isothermal lines of G-t^ and 68° F., with a minimum of but a few degrees below the freezing- 
point. The tree, as observed at Mobile, has escaped uninjured the severe and unprecedented 
long spell of ice and snow during the latter part of January and first week of February, 1895, 
when the thermometer fell as low as 11° F., the flowers unfolding unimpaired by frost during the 
succeeding first days of milder weather. 

In its dependence on light it is less exacting than either the longleaf pine or the loblolly pine. 
It appears to thrive, from the earliest stage of its development, as well when partially shaded as 
in the open, in this respect resembling the Southern spruce pine. It is due to these facts, com- 
bined with the rapid progress of its growth from the earliest stage, that the Cuban pine is gaining 
the upper hand over the offspring of the light-requiring longleaf pine, which, on the damp soil of 
the coast plain, is soon outstripped and finally almost completely suppressed by the seedlings 
of this tree. 

In the inherent capacity for natural reproduction, or in the advantages for the renewal of its 
forests by man, the Cuban pine is not surpassed by any other of the species with which it is found 
associated. This tree commends itself strongly to the tree planter in the coast plain of the lower 
South. Producing seeds in abundance regularly and with certainty, being less exacting in its 
demands for direct sunlight, and hence successfully resisting the encroachment of competing 
species, being less liable to succumb to the destructive agencies of fire on account of its more 
rapid development in early life, it has greater promise of success than the others. If to this is 
added the rapid rate of growth, the great value of its timber, being equal to the longleaf, if not 
superior, and the abundant yield of its valuable resinous product, it becomes evident that in the 
reforestation of the low pine lands of the Southern coast region the Cuban pine is to be preferred 
to any other, not only within its original boundaries, but as far beyond its range of natural 
distribution as the climatic requirements of the tree will permit. 

SHORTLEAF PINE. 

The seeds begin to swell and to germinate in the early days of spring. In Mobile County, on 
the end of the first week of March, the plantlets had their cotyledons fully unfolded, which were 
found to vary from six to seven in number, with the lower (hypocotyledonary) part of the axis from 
IJ- to 2 inches long, the rootlets being somewhat less in length (PI. XVI, e, g). The development 
of the upper part of the axis (caulicle) from the terminal budlet and of the primary acerose leaves 
proceeds now rapidly. These primary leaves succeeding the cotyledons are stiff and spreading, 
about three-fourths of an inch long and covering the stem densely (PI. XVI, g), remain during the 
first season, withering from below during the warmer part of the season. By the close of the first 
season the caulicle or first shoot has attained a length of from 3 to 4 inches. On the shoot of 
the second season (rarely before) the secondary leaves, which constitute the foliage, make their 
appearance from the undeveloped branchlets in the axis of the primary leaves (PI. XVI, g). At 
the end of the second year the i>lants are 7 to 8 inches high, with a taproot 2 to 3 inches long. 
During this season adventitious buds appear at the collar of the stem, which bring forth vigorous 
sprouts, particularly if the stem has sustained the slightest injury. These shoots are covered 
with primary leaves, which are retained for one season. They are apt to form strong branches 
before the tree has reached its fourth or fifth year; such branches, which are produced profusely 
from the stumps of larger trees, scarcely survive another season. It is rarely that branches are 
produced in the second year, the first branches appearing generally in the third season in whorls 
of three to four. In the third year foliage leaves alone are produced in the axils of scales with 
their bases close to the stem. At the close of the third year the plants are from 12 to 18 inches 
high. Now the development of the root system advances rapidly, the taproot being by this time 
about 8 or 10 inches long, with strong lateral roots often double that length. Both taproot and 
lateral roots aie finally vigorously developed, penetrating deep into the gTound, so that trees of 
this species are rarely blown down by winds. At the end of the fourth year the plants are from 
2 to 3 feet high, with the stem at best from five-eighths to seven-eighths of an inch thick. 

The branches of tbe whorls begin now in their turn to develop branchlets in whorls of secondary 
order. The develoj)ment of the primary axis and its branch system proceeds henceforth in the 
regular acrojietal order. As in all pines, the shoot of the main axis takes the lead in rapidity and 



80 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

vigor of growth. By a number of measurements made at Cullman, north Alabama, of trees from 
the oj)enings in the forest, as well as from clearings, it was found that by the end of the fifth year 
they had attained a height varying between 3 and 5 feet, rarely over, the stem being from five-eighths 
to seven-eighths of an inch in thickness; by the end of the sixth year, from 6 to 9 feet high and 
from one-half to 2 inches in diameter; and at the tenth year, from 10 to 16 feet high and 'from 2 
to 2J inches in diameter. At the age of fifteen to twenty years, with a total height of from 20 to 30 
feet aDd a diameter, breast high, of 4 to 5 inches, the crown of the tree occupies from one-half to 
five-eighths of its height. Henceforth throughout the period of quickest growth its rate is greatly 
influenced by conditions of light and soil. At the age of fifty years the height of the trees varies 
between 40 and 60 feet and the diameter, breast high, between 10 and 14 inches. About this age, 
or perhaps a short time before, the height growth begins to decline and the branches become 
somewhat reclining below and spreading toward the top, and consequently the head of the tree 
becomes more rounded in outline. Between the ages of sixty and seventy years the trees are from 
50 to 70 feet high and from 12 to 15 inches iu diameter, with the trunk clear of limbs for 30 to 
rarely over 40 feet. From this period on the growth proceeds at a slower rate. On reaching its 
one hundredth year the tree has attained a height between 90 and 95 feet and a diameter of 
fi'om 10 to 19 inches at most. Having now passed its period of vigorous life, the growth is 
henceforth insignificant. Between the ages of one hundred and twenty and one hundred and 
thirty years trees were found 90 to 110 feet high and from 18 to 24 inches in diameter. The oldest 
ti-ee encountered iu the measurements, with two hundred and eight rings of annual growth in 
the stunii), scarcely exceeded 109 feet in height and measured 24 inches in diameter. The largest 
tree felled was 117 feet high and 25 inches in diameter, with one hundred and forty -three rings in 
the stump. Occasionally trees are found of a diameter exceeding 3 feet, but such are exceptional. 

Soil and climate. — The shortleaf pine prefers a well-drained, light sandy or gravelly clay soil 
or warm loam, even if deficient iu the elements of plant food. Soils of this character which are 
found widely prevailing over the undulating or broken uplands, if only of sufficient dejjth, will 
produce this tree in greatest perfection. It avoids the strongly calcareous and the rich alluvial 
soils, as well as purely siliceous, being dependent on the presence of a certain amount of clay by 
which the mechanical condition of the soil is improved, rendering it more compact and more 
retentive of moisture. That a purely sandy and highly x^orous soil is not favorable to this tree 
is shown by the stunted growth of the waifs sometimes found in the openings of the forests of 
longieaf pine on the sandy, arid uplands in the lower part of the coast pine belt. 

Distributed in its range over 10 degrees of latitude and exposed to wide differences of 
temperature, it shows almost the same thrift of growth near its northern limits under the isotherm 
of 50° F. and in regions where the thermometer falls to near 20° below zero as in lower latitudes 
with a mean annual temjierature of 64° F. It can, therefore, endure a considerable range of 
temperature. 

The conditions of atmospheric moisture evidently exercise a much more decided influence 
over its distribution, and, without doubt, upon its individual development. The tree is found in 
greatest abundance and of best growth where, within the limits of its distribution, the annual 
rainfall varies between 48 to 52 inches, is less frequent in the districts where the precipitation 
exceeds 56 inches, .still scarcer where the annual rainfall averages below 44 inches, and entirely 
wanting where this is less than 40 inches. Hence it is found best developed in the upper part of 
the Gulf States and west of the Mississippi Eiver in adjacent northern districts from the interior 
of Georgia to northeastern Texas, where the most favorable conditions in regard to atmospheric 
precipitation prevail. The tree seems to avoid the humid air of the coast along the Gulf, as well 
as along the seashore of the Southern Atlantic States, nor does it ascend the mountains in these 
States above an altitude of 2,500 feet. 

Relation to light and associated species. — The shortleaf pine, like most pines, is a light-needing 
species, being, however, less sensitive to a deficiency in this direction than the longieaf and Cuban 
pines, which latter succumb in competition with the shortleaf pine. Originally the shortleaf pine 
is found more or less associated with various oaks (Spanish oak, blackjack, scarlet oak, post oak, 
and black oak), the mockernut and the pignut hickory, and more rarely with the chestnut, the 
mountain oak, and the scrub pine. All of these species prefer the warm, lighter soils of the 
uplands. These companions of the shortleaf pine are joined in the lower Southern States by 




Shortleaf Pine iPinus echinatai, Forest-grown Specimens in Missouri. 




9-6i'6|Mi7,i3',' cW 



Shortleaf Pine (Pinus echinata mui.) 
Cone, seed, and leaves. 




O.V4t\VltN\P.»* S t 



Shortleaf Pine (Pinus echinata Jliii.), 

a, brancti with male aments; h, brani;h with female aments at lip and one season's cones at c; d, male flowers; e, f, g, development of seedling; 

h, I, sections through leaf bundle. 



LOBLOLLY PINE. 81 

the loblolly and loiigleaf pine. Wherever in these upland forests an opening is made the short- 
leaf pine gains over its associates, finding its only successful rival in the loblolly pine. It is in 
the Southern States proverbial that in the upland forests " the pine is crowding out the hard-wood 
timber," a fact early observed. The displacement is effected either gradually in the course of time, 
or instantly when the removal of the original timber growth has been sudden. In the upper part 
of the maritime pine belt, where it is associated with the longleaf pine, the latter is sure to be 
replaced by the shortleaf species, often joiued in the course of such invasion by the loblolly pine. 

LOBLOLLY PLNB. 

The crops of seed are produced quite abundantly every year and copiously dispersed over the 
vicinity of the mother trees by the wind, the offspring quickly taking possession of old fields 
and clearings in the forest. 

The seeds germinate in the early spring. The ends of the cotyledons remain for a short time 
after germination inclosed in the endosperm. The number of the germinal leaves (cotyledons) is 
mostly six, rarely seven. At the time of the unfolding of the cotyledons the lower (hypocotyle- 
doiiaiy) part of the axis of the plant is about 1 inch in length. The rootlets are half that length, 
and are provided with several acropetal secondary rootlets. The caulicle grows rapidly, and is 
soon covered with the stiff, needle-shaped, and strongly serrulated primary leaves. Before the 
spring season has passed the bundles of secondary or foliage leaves make their appearance in 
the axils of the former. At the close of the summer season the plautlet has attained a height of 
from 6 to 8 inches, the i^pper part of the stem covered with foliage leaves, the acerose primary 
leaves of the lower part having completely withered. In examining a large number of young 
plants never less than three leaves in a bundle have been found during this or any subsequent 
stage of the growth. With the second year the primary leaves have all become reduced to the 
ordinary form of the leaf bract — lanceolate, acuminate, with fimbriate white hyaline edges and tips. 

In all the specimens examined it was found that the growth of the main axis proceeded less 
rapidly during the second season, but produced a regular whorl of from three to four lateral axes. 
At the close of the second year the main stem rarely exceeds 10 inches in height. 

At the end of their third year the plants are from 18 to 20 inches high, the stem being from 
one-fourth to five-sixteenths of an inch in thickness. The branches, forming regular whorls, are 
erect and produce in their turn whorls of secondary order. The root system shows a correspond- 
ing increase, the taproot being from 6 to 8 inches long, with numerous stout lateral roots. 

With the fourth year the loblolly pine enters seemingly upon the period of quickest growth. 
As ascertained by many measurements, the trees at the eud of their fourth year average 3 feet in 
height and from one-half to seven-eighths of an inch in diameter, and at the eud of the fifth year 
measure nearly 5 feet and from 1 to IJ inches iu diameter. At the beginning of the seventh year 
the tree attains a height of 10 feet, and with the close of the first decade trees are found 12 to 16 
feet high and from 2a to 3 inches in diameter. Some trees begin to mature their first cones by the 
tenth year. 

The above measurements were made in 1890 in the vicinity of Cullman, Ala., on trees taken 
indiscriminately from the midst and near the border of a dense pine thicket covering a field plowed 
for the last time iu 1883, and from an adjoining opening in the forest protected from fire and but 
rarely used for pasture. 

According to a number of measurements made of trees in the southern Atlantic States, the 
Gulf region, and southern Arkansas, the loblolly pine reaches at the tenth year, on the average, 
a height of 20 feet, doubling this height during the succeeding decade. During this period of 
quickest growth the increase iu height proceeds at the rate of 2 feet per annum, and trees twenty 
years old average 4i inches in diameter breast high. At the age of fifty years the trees are from 
65 to 75 feet in height (average about 70 feet) and 15 inches in diameter breast high. The annual 
increase for this period of thirty years is about 1 foot in height and 0.35 inch in diameter. From 
numerous observations it appears that the loblolly pine attains the fullness of its growth at the 
age of one hundred years, with a height, on the average, of 110 feet and a diameter breast high 
of 2 feet, the length of merchantable timber varying between 50 and 60 feet. The annual rate of 
height growth during the second half century is about eight-tenths of a foot, and the diameter 
H. Doc. 181 6 ^ 



82 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS V. S. DEPAETME^^T OP AGRICULTURE. 

growth eigiiteen one -huTidrecItlis of au iiicli. Hencefortli the growth iu height remains almost 
stationary. A dozen trees from one hundred to one hundred and fifty years okl were found to 
vary from 99 to 125 feet in height, with a length of trunk free from limbs of from 60 to 68 feet and 
from 19 to 27 inches in diameter at breast height. 

From tabulated records of growth it becomes evident that under similar conditions of soil 
and exposure the rate of increase for the various stages of growth show but slight differences in 
localities widely distant from each other. 

Soil mid climate. — The loblolly pine prefers a moist, cool, sandy, or light loamy soil, which if 
not always moist, should have greater retentiveness for moisture than is required by most of the 
other upland pines. It reaches its greatest perfection in the perpetually moist or fresh forest 
lands with a soil of a sandy loam, rich iu vegetable mold which border the swamps of the coast 
region. The tree is not found on the porous highly silicious soils of the more elevated uplands, 
where the longleaf pine almost exclusively prevails. It also avoids heavy clay and calcareous 
soils of the uplands and the alluvial lands. 

The loblolly pine is a tree of austral regions confined to the humid belt of the austroriparian 
or Louisianian zone and the lower border of the Carolinian life zone, which on the Atlantic coast 
follows quite closely the isothermal line of 56° F.; westward, in the direction of the Gulf coast, 
the isothermal line of 60°. The mean temperature of the winter along the northern limit is about 
45°, with the lowest temperature only occasionally falling below 10° F. This tree approaches the 
Appalachian zone only under the influence of a peninsular clime between the Delaware and 
Chesapeake bays. 

The loblolly appears to be indifferent to the wide differences in the amount of atmospheric 
precipitation existing within the vast range of its distribution. Extending from Florida (isotherm, 
70°) to the thirty-ninth degree of north latitude on the Atlantic coast (isotherm, 56°), it is found 
of equal thrift on the Gulf shore, with its damp air and annual rainfall exceeding 64 inches, and in 
the flat woods of Texas, where the mean annual precipitation is only one-half that amount, with a 
mean of 6 inches during the winter months. In fact, the loblolly pine is found most frequently 
and is more widely distributed in the districts of lesser precipitation. It is certainly more 
dependent on the supplies of soil moisture than upon atmospheric humidity. 

Relation to light and associated species. — This species is less exacting in its demands for direct 
sunlight than the kindred species within its range. To this relation may be ascribed the success 
which it achieves in the struggle for the possession of the soil with the shortleaf pine. Observing 
this contest as it is going on between the competing species in the forest, the conditions of the soil 
being equally favorable, the loblolly pine, under the cover of shade, outstrips the shortleaf pine 
under the same conditions; and, on the other hand, where the sunlight has had unhindered access, 
it gives way to its competitor, being then subjected to the disadvantage resulting from a speedier 
desiccation of the soil. Through such influences it is that, under conditions seemingly equally 
favorable to either one of these pines, now the one and now the other is found to predominate. 

In the deep forests covering the rich swampy lands of the coast regions, the loblolly pine 
forms comparatively a small part of the rich and varied growth consisting chiefly of deciduous 
trees, black gum, sweet or red gum, water oak, and mockernut, to which in the lower South the 
magnolia, sweet bay, red bay, and Cuban pine are to be added. Although requiring less sunlight 
than most i)ines, in the gloomy impenetrable shade of these dense forests the progeny of the 
loblolly pine has no future, especially as these lands once cleared are devoted to tillage, being of 
great agricultural value. 

On the lands of a poorer, more exposed soil in the maritime plain of the southern Atlantic 
States, in Virginia and Xorth Carolina, and in southwestern Texas, this pine forms more or less 
compact forests. In these forests the tree is always succeeded by its own progeny, either in the 
course of nature or after the artificial removal of the original forest growth. On the coast of 
Georgia, in Florida, and in the coast plain of the eastern Gulf States, the loblolly pine is scattered 
among the Cuban and the longleaf pine; there its second growth meets a formidable competitor 
in the first named of these species. In the flat woods, deprived of drainage, the Cuban i)ine is 
always found to vastly outnumber the loblolly among tlie young forest growth. In the upper part 
of the great maritime pine belt the loblolly pine is frequently found among the mixed growth of 
magnolia, Spanish, red, post, and blackjack oaks, mockernut and pignut hickory, shortleaf pine, 




Loblolly Pine (.Pinus t/eda), typical Trees. 




a, aments of female ilowers; (., immatui-e cone, i 



L.OBLOLLY Pine (Pinus t/eda l.). 

" i growth; c, mature cone; d. open cone; c, /, 
g, seed and winij. 



; scales, outer and inner side; 



LOBLOLLY PINE. • 83 

and southern spruce pine. Throughout this region the tree takes almost undisputed possession 
of the old fields. 

In the interior, on the uplands of oaks and shortleaf pine, the loblolly is sure to gain the 
upper hand and to retain its hold among the young forest growth, giving way to its most aggressive 
competitor, the shortleaf pine, only when under the disadvantage of a greater exposure and a 
greater lack of moisture in the soil. 

Enemies. — Principally confined to low, damp localities, not easily liable to invasion by the 
frequent conflagrations which scour the southern pine forests, the loblolly pine suffers less from 
destruction by fire than any other species. In virti^e of the inherent facilities for its natural 
renewal resulting from its fecundity and from the rapidity of its development from the earliest 
stages of growth, any damages inflicted by that agency are more easily repaired. The same causes 
afford it also greater protection against incursions of live stock. As also observed in the short- 
leaf pine, the rapidly growing seedlings form, after a few years, thickets of such density as to be 
avoided by the larger quadrupeds, and by the time such thickets, in the course of natural thinning 
out have become more open, the trees have reached dimensions which place them beyond the 
danger of being tramped down or otherwise injured by live stock. The rapid spread and thrift 
of the second growth, unprotected and uncared for, observed everywhere within the range of the 
distribution of this pine, are witnesses to its greater immunity from such dangers. 

Owing to the large amount of sapwood, the timber of the loblolly is more liable to the attacks 
of fungi and to the ravages of insects. The mycelium (spawn) of large polyporous fungi is found 
frequently infesting the woody tissue of the living tree, the hyphse (filaments) of the spawn 
destroying the walls of the wood cells, causing the wood to assume a reddish color and rendering 
it brittle in the same way as is observed in the living longleaf-pine timber affected with the disease 
called " red heart." It seems that the destruction caused by this disease in the loblolly pine is 
from the start more rapid in consequence of the larger proportions of sapwood, and perhaps also 
on account of the broader bands of soft spring wood naturally accompanying wood of rapid growth. 

In a piece of wood examined in north Alabama, the filaments of the spawn of one of these 
fungi crossing each other in every direction were found to form a dense film interposed between 
the spring and summer wood, causing its easy separation in the direction of the concentric rings, 
and, as the destruction of the wood proceeds, forming finally a compact layer of the nature of 
amadou, or tinder. In the longitudinal section the rays were found full of cavities, caused by the 
breaking down of the cell walls, and these cavities were filled with the white film of these 
filaments, which similarly affected the adjoining tracheids of the resinous summer wood. 

The felled timber left on the ground is soon infested by a host of faugi of the genera 
Agaricus, Tramites, Lentinus, Polyporus, and others, the nearer identification of which has not 
been undertaken. 

From the very limited observations that have been made it clearly appears that this pine 
suffers equally as much, if not more, than the other pines of Southern growth from insect enemies 
of various kinds. The larvte of the same Capricorn beetles {CeramMcidw) burrow in the body of 
the timber. Those of the roundheaded borers {Goleophora) dig their channels in the sapwood, 
as is indicated by the occurrence of several species of jumping beetles (Buprestidce) which are 
found clinging to the leaves and branches of this tree. The most fatal injury it sustains is caused 
by the bark borers (Tomicidce), this pest particularly affecting the trees during the formation of 
the last cambium layer in the later summer months. Trees felled in August are immediately 
infested by multitudes of these destroyers. Favored by a high temperature and an abundance 
of nourishment, several generations of them succeed each other before the close of the season, 
the countless broods soon infesting every tree in the vicinity and carrying their work of destruc- 
tion over the full expanse of the young forest growth. Under this affliction the forests often 
present, by their drooping rusty-colored foliage, a sad picture of disease and decay. Weevils 
{Gurculionidcca) deposit their eggs in the youngest tender shoots; the larvae which hatch from 
them eat their way into these shoots, causing their decay, and thus destroy the symmetry of the 
tree and impair the usefulness of the resulting timber. Other species of the same family puncture 
the older branches, lay their eggs in the exuded resin, their larviie injuring the tree in a similar 
way. The larviie of spittle insects injure the terminal bitds, which are also found infested by the 
larvtB of pitch moths [Betinice), causing them to wither. The foliage seems to be less frequently 



84 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 

attacked by sawflies (Lopliyrus) tliau the tender young leaves of the longleaf pine, as by the 
rapidity of their growth tlie young leaves sooner harden, and are therefore less relished by these 
depredators. The evidences of the work of the pine leaf miners (caterpillar of Gelechia) have 
been frequently observed in Alabama, and everywhere are seen the deformities caused by galliiies 
and scale insects. 

Natural reproduction. — If the shortleaf pine has been spoken of emphatically as the future 
timber tree of the light-rolling uplands of the interior, the loblolly pine might be titly designated 
as the timber tree of greatest promise in a large part of the coast plain from the Middle Atlantic 
States to the limits of compact forest growth beyond the Mississippi Eiver. Tbe promptness 
with which it colonizes the old fields and other clearings, and the tenacity with which it retains 
from one generation to another the ground once taken possession of, clearly point to the important 
part this tree is to take wlien the ruthless stripping of timber lands practiced at present gives 
place to the management of the forests under a system of fostering care, tending to their future 
maintenance and to tbe disposal of their resources on the principle of true economy with an eye 
to the future welfare of the country. No timber tree will be found better adapted for forest 
planting in the southern part of the Atlantic forest division. It is only in the narrow belt of flat 
woods along the shores of Florida, Georgia, and the eastern Gulf region that it is likely to find 
its superior in the Cuban pine (Pinus heteropliyUa). 

Besides the advantages of adaptability to varied soil and climate it excels in rapidity of 
growth during the earliest stages, and the copious production of seeds which, almost without fail, 
are plentifully distributed every year over the vicinity of the parent trees. As an evidence of the 
facility with which the reproduction of a compact forest by this pine is effected, it is only necessary 
to point out the spontaneous groves near the settlements, representing, as they do, every stage of 
development. 

In the coast region the second growth, if not interfered with under proper soil conditions, 
yields in fifty to sixty years timber of dimensions rendering it fit to be sawn into lumber well 
adapted for various uses, as already mentioned. 

Conclusion. — In this attempt at a sketch of the life history of this tree, the object was constantly 
kept in view of placing its value among the products of tbe Southern forests in tbe proper light. 
From the consideration of the structure of the wood and its physical properties, it clearly appears 
that although inferior to tlie wood of the longleaf and Cuban pines, the timber of this species 
fully equals that of shortleaf pine, and that the present practice of treating thein as equivalent 
seems therefore justified. 

As an abundant and cheap source of timber of inferior grades, and especially when the 
rapidity of its growth is considered, the loblolly pine is of no less economic importance than the 
other timber trees of the same section. At present held in low esteem in the great lumbering 
districts of the lower South, where the supplies of the superior timber of the longleaf pine still 
abound and receive the preference, the value of the timber of the loblolly pine is quickly recog- 
nized in other districts which, but a short while ago boasting of large resources, are now stripped 
of them. Its physiological peculiarities make it an im^jortant factor in the future forestry of this 
section. Its propagation is successful over a vast expanse in the southern section of the Atlantic 
forest region, and by its productive capacity, mode of development, and behavior toward com- 
peting species in the struggle for existence, the loblolly pine possesses great advantages for its 
natural and artificial renewal, adapting it particularly for the restoration of the forests on the 
lowlands of the maritime region. 

Comparative Rate of Growth. 

The species naturally develop somewhat differently, according to the soil conditions in which 
they occur. Without going into a detailed discussion, which may be found in the bulletin referred 
to, a comparison of the rate of growth of the four species, based on a large number of measure- 
ments, gave, for average trees and average conditions, the results shown in the accompanying- 
diagrams (tigs. 1 to 3), which permit the determination of the rate of growth at different periods 
of their life. 

From these it appears that the Cuban jiiue is by far the most rapid grower, while the longleaf 
pine, which usually grows associated with the former, is the slowest, loblolly and shortleaf 
occupying a j)osition between the two. 



KATE OF GROWTH. 



85 



The longleaf shows for the first five to seven years hardly any development in height, and 
begins then to grow rapidly and evenly to the fiftieth or seventieth year, and even after that 
period, though the rate is somewhat diminished, progresses evenly and steadily, giving to the 
height curve a smooth and persistent character. 

The diameter growth shows the same even and persistent progress from the start, and the 
volume growth also progresses evenly after the rapid height-growth rate is passed at seventy 
years. 

The Cuban pine ceases in its maximum rate of height growth at thirty years, starts with its 
diameter growth at about the rate of the loblolly, but alter the twenty-fifth year leaves the latter 
behind for the next twenty-five to thirty years, then proceeds at about the same rate, but 
persisting longer than the loblolly. At the age of fifty years the Cuban pine with 46 cubic feet 
has made nearly twice the amount of the loblolly and more than four times that of the longleaf; 



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but at one hundred years the difference is reduced, being then 115, 90, and 55 cubic feet, respec- 
tively, for the three species. 

Both loblolly and shortleaf pine reach their maximum growth sooner than the other two 
species. While these still show a persistently ascending line at one hundred and twenty to one 
hundred and forty years, the rate of growth in the loblolly shows a decline after the one-hundredth 
year, and the shortleaf has done its best by the eightieth year. These facts give indications as to 
the rotation under which these various species may be managed. 

As stated before, the growth of trees, especially in tlie virgin forest, is quite variable even for 
the same species and same soil conditions. An average, therefore, like the one presented in the 
diagrams, however perfect, could apply only when large numbers are considered. Thus there are 
fast-growing trees of longleaf and slow growing of Cuban or loblolly pine. Yet the diagrams will 
fairly well represent the average growth, with the possible exception of the Cuban pine, for which 
the number of measurements was too small to furnish reliable data. 



86 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

American Woods. 

The great variety of trees already enumerated furnishes almost as great a variety of charac- 
teristic woods. There is, perhaps, no country in the world which can command such a wealth of 
woods for strictly useful purposes, although the Tropics may yield a larger variety of ornamental 
woods. The work of the Division of Forestry has concerned itself largely with the study of 
American woods, the crop of American forests. It is, therefore, appropriate to include in this 
report a brief resume, giving a description of the various kinds of wood and their present 
application in the arts, reproduced from Bulletin 10, 

In the countries of Europe the kinds of wood used in construction and manufacture are so 
few that there is but little difflculty in distinguishing them. In our own country the great variety 
of woods, and of useful woods at that, often makes the mere distinction of the kind or species of 



82 


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tree most difficult. Thus there are at least eight pines (of the thirty-five native ones) in the mar*- 
ket, some of which so closely resemble each other in their minute structure that they can hardly 
be told apart; and yet they differ in quality and should be used separately, although they are 
often mixed or confounded in the trade. Of the thirty-six oaks, of which probably not less than 
six or eight are marketed, we can readily recognize by means of their minute anatomy at least 
two tribes— the white and the black oaks. The distinction of the species is, however, as yet 
uncertain. The same is true as to the eight kinds of hickory, the six kinds of ash, etc. Before 
we shall be able to distinguish the wood of these species unfailingly more study will be neces- 
sary. The key given in the present publication, therefore, is by necessity only provisional, requir- 
ing further elaboration. It unfortunately had to be based largely on external appearances, which 
are not always reliable. Sometimes, for general practical purposes, this mere appearance, with 



AMERICAN WOODS. 



87 



some minor attributes, siich as color, taste, etc., are together sufficient, especially when the locality 
is known from which the species came, and in the log pile the determination may by these means 
be rendered possible when a single detached piece will leave us doubtful as to the species. In the 
market the distinctions are often most uncertain, and a promiscuous application of names adds to 
the confusion. To be sure, there is not much virtue in knowing the correct name, except that it 
assists us in describing the exact kind of material we desire to obtain. Nor is there always much 
gained in being able to identify the species of wood, but that it predicates certain qualities which 
are usually found in the species. 

In selecting material, then, for special purposes we first determine what species to use as 
having either one quality which is foremost in our requirements, or several qualities in combina- 
tion, as shown by actual experience or by experiment. 



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II 


IJ 


13 


14 


> '^ I50 



Fio. 3— Diagram showing comparative progress of volume growth in average trees. 

The uses of the various woo'ds depend on a variety of conditions. The carpenter and builder, 
using large quantities of material and bestowing a minimum amount of labor on the greater part 
of the same, uses those kinds which are abundant, and hence cheap, to be had in large dimensions, 
light to ship, soft to work and to nail, and fairly stiff and insect proof— a combination represented 
in the conifers. They need not be handsome, hard, tough, or very strong, and may shrink even 
after they are in place. Wheu it comes to finishing- woods, more stress is laid on color and grain 
and that the wood shall shrink as little as possible. 

The furniture maker, who bestows a maximum amount of work on his material, needs a wood 
that combines strength, and sometimes toughness, with beauty and hardness, that takes a good 
polish, keeps Joint, and does not easily indent. It must not warp or shrink when once in place, 
but it need not be light or soft or insect proof or abundant in any one kind, and in large dimensions, 
nor yet particularly cheap. 



88 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

Tougiiness, streugtb, and liarduess combined are sought by tbe wagon maker. The carriage 
builder, cooper, and shingle maker look for straight-grained, easy- splitting woods, and for a 
long fiber, the absence of disturbing resinous and coloring matter, knots, etc. Durability under 
exposure to the weather, resistance to indentation, and the holding of spikes are required for a 
good railroad tie; lasting qualities, elasticity, and proportionate dimensions of length and diameter 
for telegraph i^oles. 

Sometimes in practice it is immaterial whether the stick be of white oak or red oak, and many 
wood yards make no distinction, in fact do not know any, but the experienced cooper will quickly 
distinguish, not by name, perhaps, but by quality, the more porous red or black oak from the less 
porous white species. On the other hand, the very same white oak — Querctis alba, usually a 
superior article — may furnish so poor material for a handle or a plow beam that a stick of red oak 
Mould be preferable. The inspection, then, must be made not only for the species but for the 
quality, with reference to the purpose for which the stick is to be used. 

LIST OF THE MORE IMPORTANT WOODS OP THE UNITED STATES. 
A. COSriFEROUS WOODS. 

Woods of simple aud uniform atruoture, generally light, soft but stiff; abundant in suitable dimensions and 

forming by iar the greatest part of all the lumber used. 

Cedar. — Light, soft, stiff, not strong, of fine texture; sap aud heart wood distinct, the former lighter, the latter a dull 
grayish brown, or red. The wood seasons rapidly, shrinks and checks but little, and is very durable. Used like 
soft pine, but owing to its great durability preferred for shingles, etc. Small sizes used for posts, ties, etc' 
Cedars usually occur scattered, but they form, in certain localities, forest.s of considerable extent. 
a. White cedars. — Heartwood a light grayish brown. 

1. White cedar (Thujia occidentalis) (Arborvitaj) : Scattered along streams and lakes, frequently covering exten- 

sive swamps ; rarely large enough for lumber, but commonly used for posts, ties, etc. Maine to Minnesota 
and northward. 

2. Canoe cedar (Tltuya pUcata) (red cedar of the West) : In Oregon and Washington a very large tree, covering 

extensive swamps ; in the mountains much smaller, skirting the water courses ; an important lumber tree. 
Washington to northern California aud eastward to Montana. 

3. White cedar (Chamwcyparis ihyoides): Medium-sized tree, wood very light and soft. Along the coast from 

Maine to Mississippi. 

4. White cedar (Cliamaicyparis lawsoniana) (Port Orford cedar, Oregon cedar, Lawson's cypress, ginger pine): A 

very large tree, extensively cut for lumber; heavier and stronger than the preceding. Along the coast line 
of Oregon. 

5. White cedar (Litocedrus decurrens) (incense cedar): A large tree, abundantly scattered among pine and fir; 

wood fine grained. Cascades and Sierra Nevada of Oregon and California. 
6. Red cedars. — Heartwood red. 

6. Red cedar (Jtiniperus virginiana) (Savin juniper) : Similar to white cedar, but of somewhat finer texture. 

Used in cabinetwork in cooperage, for veneers, and especially for lead pencils, for which purpose alone 
several million feet are cut each year. A small to medium sized tree scattered through the forests, or, in the 
West, sparsely covering extensive areas (cedar brakes). The red cedar is the most widely distri biited conifer 
of the United States, occurring from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from Florida to Minnesota, but attains 
a suitable size for lumber only in the Southern, and more especially the Gulf, States. 

7. Redwood {Sequoia sempen'irens) : Wood in its quality and uses like white cedar; the narrow sap wood whitish; 

the heartwood light red, soon turning to brownish red when exposed. A very large tree, limited to the 
coast ranges of California, and forming considerable forests, which are rapidly being converted into lumber. 
Cypress. 

8. Cypress (Taxodinm distichum) (bald cypress; black, white, and red cypress): Wood in appearance, quality, 

and uses similar to white cedar. "Black cypress" and "white cypr,ess" are heavy aud light forms of the 

same species. The cyi)ress is a large deciduous tree, occupying much of the swamp and overflow land along 

the coast and rivers of the Southern States. 

Fir. — This name is frequently applied to wood and to trees which are not fir; most commonly to spruce, but also, 

especially in English markets, to xiine. It resembles spruce, but is easily distiuguished from it, as well as from 

pine and larch, by the absence of resin ducts. Quality, uses, and habits similar to spruce. 

9. Balsam fir (AMes bahamea) : A medium-sized tree scattered throughout the northern pineries; cut, in lumber 

operations whenever of sufficient size, and sold with pine or spruce. Minnesota to Maine and northward. 

10. White fir {Abies grandis and Abies concolor) : Medium to very large sized trees, forming an important part of 
most of the Western mountain forests, aud furnishing much of the lumber of the respective regions. The 
former occurs from Vancouver to central California and eastward to Montana; the latter from Oregon to 
Arizona and eastward to Colorado and New Mexico. 

' Since almost all kinds of woods are used for fuel and charcoal, and in the construction of fences, sheds, barns, 
etc., the ennraeratiou of these uses has been omitted in this list. 



AMERICAN WOODS. 89 

11. White fir (Abies amabilis) : Good-sized tree, often forraiug extensive mountain forests. Cascade Mountains 
of Washington and Oregon. 

12. Red fir (Abies nobilis) (not to he confounded with Douglas fir; see No. 37): Large to very large tree, forniino-, 
with A. amabilis, extensive forests on the slope of the mountains between 3,000 and 4,000 feet elevation. 
Cascade Mountains of Oregon. 

13. Red fir (Abies magnifica) : Very large tree, forming forests about the base of Mount Shasta. Sierra Nevada 
of CalifoiTiia, from Mount Shasta southward. 

Hemlock. — Light to medium weight, soft, stiff but brittle, commonly crossgrained, rough and splintery ; sap wood 
and heartwood not well defined; the wood of a light, reddisli-gray color, free from resin ducts, moderately 
durable, shrinks and warps considerably, wears rough, retains nails firmly. Used principally for dimension 
stuff and timbers. Hemlocks are medium to large sized trees, commonly scattered among broad-leaved trees 
and conifers, but often forming forests of almost pure growth. 

14. Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis): Medium-sized tree, furnishes almost all the hemlock of the Eastern market. 
Maine to Wisconsin; also following the Alleghanies southward to Georgia and Alabama. 

15. Hemlock (Tsuga merlensiana) : Large-sized tree, wood claimed to be heavier and harder than the Eastern 
form and of superior quality. Washington to California and eastward to Montana. 

Larch or tamarack. — Wood like the best of hard pine, both in appearance, quality, and uses, and owing to its great 
durability, somewhat preferred in shipbuilding, for telegraph poles, and railroad ties. In its structure it 
resembles spruce. The larches are deciduous trees, occasionally covering considerable areas, but usually scat- 
tered among other conifers. 

16. Tamarack (Larijc laricina) (Hackmatack) : Medium-sized tree, often covering swamps, in which case it is 
smaller and of poor quality. Maine to Minnesota and southward to Pennsylvania. 

17. Tamarack (L. occidentalis) : Large-sized trees, scattered, locally abundant. Washington .and Oregon to 
Montana. 

Pine. — Very variable, very light and soft in '-soft" pine, such as wliite pine; of medium weight to heavy and quite 
hard in "hard" pine, of which longleaf or Georgia pine is the extreme form. Usually it is stitf, quite strong, of 
even texture, and more or less resinous. The sapwood is yellowish white; tlie heartwood orange-brown. Pine 
shrinks moderately, seasons rapidly, .and without much injury; it works easily; is never too hard to nail (unlike 
oak or hickory); it is mostly quite dur.able, and if well seasoned is not subject to the att.acks of boring insects. 
The heavier the wood, the darker, stronger, and harder it is, and the more it shrinks and checks. Pine is used 
more extensively than any other kind of wood. It is the principal wood in common carpentry, as well as in all 
heavy construction, bridges, trestles, etc. It is also used in almost every other wood industry, for spars, masts, 
planks, and timbers in shipbuilding, in car and wagon construction, in cooperage, for crates and boxes, in furni- 
ture work, fur toys and patterns, railway ties, water pipes, excelsior, etc. Pines are usually large trees with 
few branches, tUe straight, cylindrical, useful stem forming by far the greatest part of the tree; they occur gre- 
gariously, forming vast forests, a fact which greatly facilitates their exploitation. Of the many special terms 
applied to pine as lumber, denoting sometimes differences in quality, the following deserve attention: 

"White pine," "pumpkin pine," "soft pine," in the Eastern markets, refer to the wood of the white pine 

(Pinus strobiis), and on the Pacific coast to that of the sugar pine (Piniis Jambertiava). 
"Yellow pine" is .applied in the trade to all the Southern lumber pines; in the Northeast it is also applied 

to the pitch pine (P. rigida) ; in the West it refers mostly to bull pine (P. ponderosa). 
" Yellow longleaf pine," "Georgia pine," chiefly used in advertisement, refers to longleaf pine (P. jialtistris). 
" Hard pine " is a common term in carpentry, and applies to everything except white pine. 
"Pitch pine " includes all Southern pines .and also the true pitch pine (P. rigida), but is mostly applied, 
especially in foreign markets, to the wood of the longleaf pine (P. palusiris). 
For the great variety of confusing local names applied to the Southern pines in their homes, part of which have 
been adopted in the markets of the Atlantic seaboard, see report of Chief of Division of Forestry for 1891, page 212, 
etc., and also the list below: 
a. Soft pines. 

18. White pine (Pinus strobus) : Large to very large size tree; for the last fifty years the most important timber 
tree of the Union, furnishing the best quality of soft pine. Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, New England, 
along the Alleghanies to Georgia. 

19. Sugar pine (Pinus lambertiaiia) : A very large tree, together with Abies concolor, forming extensive forests; 
import.int lumber tree. Oregon and California. 

20. White i>ine (Pinus tiioniicola) : A large tree, at home in Montana, Idaho, and the Pacific States; most common 
and locally used in northern Idaho. 

21. White pine (Pinus jtexilis): A small tree, forming mountain forests of considerable extent and locally used; 
eastern Rocky Mountain slopes; Montana to New Mexico. 

6. Hard pines. 

22. Longleaf pine ( Pinus palustris) (Georgia pine, yellow pine, long-straw pine, etc.) : Large tree ; forms exten- 
sive forests, and furnishes the hardest and strongest pine lumber in the market. Coast region from North 
Carolina to Texas. 

23. Bull pine (Pinus ponderosa) (yellow pine): Medium to very large sized tree, forming extensive forests in 
Pacific and Rocky Mountain regions; furnishes most of the hard pine of the West; sapwood wide; wood 
very variable. 



90 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

24. Loblolly pine ( Piiius tcvda) (slash pine, old-field pine, rosemary pine, sap pine, short-straw pine, etc. ) : Large- 
sized tree; forms extensive forests; -wider-ringed, coarser, lighter, softer, with more sap wood than the long- 
leaf pine, hut the two often confounded. This is the common lumber pine from Virginia to South Carolina, 
and is found extensively in Arliausas and Texas. Southern States; Virginia to Texas and Arkansas. 

25. Norway pine (Piniis resinosa) : Large-sized tree, never forming forests, usually scattered or in small groves, 
too-ether with wliite iiine; largely sapwood and hence not durable. Minnesota to Michigan; also in New 
England to Pennsylvania. 

26. Shortleaf pine {Pinus echinata) (slash pine, Carolina pine, yellow pine, old field pine, etc.) : Resembles lob- 
lolly pine; often approaches in its wood the Norway pine. The common lumber pine of Missouri and 
Arkansas. North Carolina to Texas and Missouri. 

27. Cuban pine {Pinns helerophylla) (slash pine, swamp pine, bastard pine, meadow pine) : Resembles longleaf 
pine, but commonly has wider sapwood and coarser grain; does not enter the markets to any great extent. 
Along the coast from South Carolina to Louisiana. 

28. Bull pine (Pinns jeffrei/i) (black pine): Large-sized tree, wood resembling bull pine (P. 2>onderosa) : used 
locally in California, replacing P. ponde.rosa at high altitudes. 

The following are small to medium sized pines, not commonly offered as lumber in the market; used locally for 
timber, ties, etc. : 

29. Black pine {Pinus murrayana) (lodge-pole pine, tamarack) : Rock Mountains and Pacific regions. 

30. Pitch pine (Finis rigida) : Along the coast from New York to Georgia and along tlie mountains to Kentucky. 

31. J ersej TDine (Pinus virginiana) (scrub pine) : As before. 

32. Gray pine (Finns dirarioata) (scrub pine) : Maine, Vermont, and Michigan to Minnesota. 
Redwood. (See Cedar.) 

Sjiruce. — Resembles soft pine, is light, very soft, stifi^, moderately strong, less resinous than pine; has no distinct 
hoartwood, and is of whitish color. Used like soft pine, but also employed as resonance wood and preferred for 
paper pulp. Spruces, like pines, form extensive forests ; they are more frugal, thrive on thinner soils, and 
bear more shade, but iisiially require a more humid climate. "Black" and "white spruce," as applied by 
lumbermen, usually refer to narrow and wide ringed forms of the black spruce (Picea nigra.) 

33. Black spruce (Pieea mariana): Medium-sized tree, forms extensive forests in northeastern United States 
and in British America; occurs scattered' or in groves, especially in lowlands throughout the Northern 
pineries. Important lumber tree in Eastern United States. Maine to Minnesota, British America, and on 
the AUeghanies to North Carolina. 

34. White spruce (Picea alha) : Gener.ally associated with the preceding; most abundant along streams and 
lakes, grows largest in Montana, and forms the most important tree of the subarctic forest of British America, 
nortliern United States, from Maine to Minnesota, also from Montana to Pacific, British America. 

35. White spTuce (Picea engelmanni): Medium to large sized tree, forming extensive forests at elevations from 
5,000 to 10,000 feet above sea level; resembles the pi-eceding, but occupies a different station. A very 
important timber tree in the central and southern parts of the Rocky Mountains. Rocky Mountains from 
Mexico to Montana. 

36. Tide-land spruce (Picea siieliensis): A large-sized tree, forming an extensive coast-belt forest. Along the 
seacoast from Alaska to Central California. 

Bastard Spruce. — Spruce, or fir in name, but resembling hard pine or larch in the appearance, quality, and uses of 
its wood. 

37. Douglas spruce (Pseudoisuga iaxifoUa) (yellow fir, red fir, Oregon pine): One of the most important trees 
of the Western United States ; grows very large in the Pacific States, to fair size in all parts of the moun- 
tains, in Colorado up to about 30,000 feet above sea level ; forms extensive forests, often of pure growth. Wood 
very variable, usually coarse grained and heavy, with very pronounced summer wood, hard and strong 
("red" fir), but often fine grained and light ("yellow" fir). It replaces hard pine and is especially suited 
to heavy construction. From the plains to the Pacific Ocean; from Mexico to British America. 

Tamaraclc. (See Larcli.) 

Tew. — Wood heavy, hard, extremely stiff, and strong, of fine texture, with a pale yellow sapwood, and an orange-red 

heart; seasons well and is quite durable. Yew is extensively used for archery, bows, turner's ware, etc. The 

yews form no forests, but occur scattered with other conifers. 

38. Yew (Taxus Itrevifolia) : A small to medium sized tree of the Pacific region. 

B. BROAD-LBAVED WOODS (HardwOOds). 

Woods of complex and very variable structure, and therefore differing widely in quality, behavior, and conse- 
quently in applicability to tlie arts. 

Ash. — Wood heavy, hard, strong, stiff, quite tough, not durable in contact with soil, str.iight-grained, rough on the 
split surface, and coarse in texture. The wood shrinks moderately, seasons with little injury, stands well, and 
takes a good polish. In carpentry ash is used for finishing lumber, stairways, panels, etc. It is used in ship- 
building, in the construction of cars, wagons, carriages, etc., in the manufacture of farm implements, macbiuery, 
and especially of furniture of all kinds, and also for harness work ; for barrels, baskets, oars, tool handles, hoops, 
clothespins, and toys. The trees of the sever.-il species of ash are rapid growers, of small to medium height, 
with stout trunlcs ; they form no forests, but occur scattered in almost all our broad-leaved forests. 

39. White ash (Fraxinns americana) : Medium, sometimes large-sized tree. Basin of the Ohio, but found from 
Maine to Minnesota and Texas. 

40. Red ash ( Fraxinns penmsijlvanica) : Small sized tree. North Atlantic States, but extends to the Mississippi. 



AMERICAN WOODS. 91 

41. Black ash (Fraxinus nir/ra) (hoop ash, ground ash) : Medium-sized tree, very common. Maine to Minnesota 
and southward to Virginia and Arliansas. 

42. Blue ush {Fraxinus qiiadrangulata): Small to medium sized. Indiana and, Illinois; occurs from Michigan to 
Minnesota and southward to Alabama. 

43. Green ash (Fraxinus viridis) : Small-sized tree. New York to the Rocky Mountains and southward to Florida 
and Arizona. 

44. Oregon ash (Fraxinus oregana) : Medium-sized tree. Western Washington to California. 
Aspen. (See Pojylar.) 

Bassuood. 

45. Basswood ( Tilia americana) (lime tree, American linden, lin, hee tree) : Wood light, soft, stiff hut not strong, 
of fine texture, and white to light brown color. The wood shrinks considerably in drying, works and stands 
well; it is used in carpentry, in the manufacture of furniture and wooden ware, both turned and carved, in 
cooperage, for toys, also for paneling of car and carriage bodies. Medium to large sized tree, common in all 
Northern broad-leaved forests; found throughout the Eastern United States. 

46. White basswood (Tilia lieterophylla) : A small-sized tree most abundant in the Allegheny region. 
Beech. 

47. Beech (Fagus lalifolia) : Wood heavy, hard, stiff, strong, of rather coarse texture, white to light brown, not 
durable in the ground, and subject to the inroads of boring insects ; it shrinks and checks considerably in dry- 
ing, works and stands well and takes a good polish. Used for furniture, in turnery, for handles, lasts, etc. 
Abroad it is very extensively employed by the carpenter, millwright, and wagon maker, in turnery as well as 
wood carving. The beech is a medium-sized tree, common, sometimes forming forest ; most abundant in the 
Ohio and Mississippi basin, but found from Maine to Wisconsin and southward to Florida. 

Birch. — Wood heavy, hard, strong, of fine texture; sapwood whitish, heartwood in shades of brown with red and 
yellow; very handsome, with satiny luster, equaling cherry. The wood shrinks considerably in drying, works 
and stands well and takes a good polish, but is not durable if exjjosed. Birch is used for finishing lumber in 
building, in the manufacture of furniture, in wood turnery for spools, boxes, wooden shoes, etc., for shoe lasts 
and pegs, for wagon hubs, ox yokes, etc., also in wood carving. The birches are medium-sized trees, form 
extensive forests northward, and occur scattered in all broad-leaved forests of the Eastern United States. 

48. Cherry birch (Betula leiita) (black birch, sweet birch, mahogauy birch): Small to medium-sized tree; very 
common. Maine to Michigan and to Tennessee. 

49. YeWow hivch. (Betula lutea) (gray birch) : Medium-sized tree; common. Maine to Minnesota and southward 
to Tennessee. 

50. Red birch (i?etetem(7ra) (river birch) : Small to medium sized tree; very common; lighter and less valuable 
thau the preceding. New England to Texas and Missouri. 

51. Canoe birch (Betula papijrifcra) (white birch, paper birch): Generally a small tree; common, forming 
forests; wood of good quality but lighter. All along the northern boundary of United States and north- 
ward, from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 

Blade timlnut. (See Wain i(t.) 
Blue heecJi. 

52. Blue beech (Carpinus caroliniana) (hornbeam, water beech, iron wood) : Wood very heavy, hard, strong, very 
stiff, of rather fine texture and white color; not durable ia the ground; shrinks and checks greatly, but 
works and stands well. Used chiefly in turnery for tool handles, etc. Abroad, much used by mill and wheel 
Wrights. A small tree, largest in the Southwest, but found in nearly all parts of the Eastern United States. 

Bois d'aro. (See Osage orange.) 

Buckeye — liorse chestnut. — Wood light, soft, not strong, often quite tough, of fine and uniform texture and creamy 

white color. It shrinks cousider.ably, but works and stands well. Used for wooden ware, artificial limbs, paper 

liulp, and locally also for building lumber. Small-sized trees, scattered. 

53. Ohio buckeye ((JEsculus glahra) (fetid buckeye) : AUeghenies, Pennsylvania to Indian Territory 

54. Sweet buckeye (JEsculus octandra) : AUeghenies, Pennsylvania to Texas. 
Butternut. 

55. Butternut (Juglans cinerea) (white walnut) : Wood very similar to black walnut, but light, quite soft, not strong 
and of light brown color. Used chiefly for finishing lumber, cabinetwork, and cooperage. Medium-sized 
tree, largest and most common in the Ohio basin ; Maine to Minnesota and southward to Georgia and Alabama, 

Catalpa. 

56. Catalpa (Catalpa speciosa) : Wood light, soft, not strong, brittle, durable, of co.arse texture and brown color; 
used for ties and posts, but well suited for a great variety of uses. Medium-sized tree ; lower basin of the 
Ohio River, locally common. Extensively planted, and therefore promising to become of some importance. 

Ckerrij. 

57. Cherry (Prunus serotina): Wood heavy, hard, strong, of fine texture; sapwood yellowish white, heartwood 
reddish to brown. The wood shrinks considerably in drying, works and stands well, takes a good polish, 
and is much esteemed for its beauty. Cherry is chiefly used a-s a decorative finishing lumber fcir buildings, 
cars, and boats, also for furniture and in turnery. It is becoming too costly for many purposes for which it 
is naturally well suited. The lumber-furnishing cherry of this country, the wild black cherry (Primus 
serotina), is a small to medium sized tree, scattered through many of the broad-leaved woods of the western 
slope of the AUeghenies, but found from Michigan to Florida and west to Texas. Other species of this 
genus, as well as the hawthorns (Cratwgus) and wild ajiple (I'yrns), are not commonly offered in the market. 
Their wood is of the same character as cherry, often e\ en fiui^r, but iu small dimensions. 



92 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

Chestnut. 

58. Chestnut {Castanea dentaia): "Wood light, moderately soft, stiff, not strong, of coarse texture; the sapwood 
light, the heartwood darker brown. It shrinks and checks consider.ibly in drying, works easily, stands 
well, and is very durable. Used in cabinetwork, cooperage, for railway ties, telegraph poles, and locally in 
heavy construction. Medium-sized tree, very common in the AUeghenies, occurs from Maine to Michigan 
and southward to Alabama. 

59. Chinquapin (Castaufa pnmila): A small-sized tree, with wood slightly heavier but otherwise similar to the 
preceding; most common iu Arkansas, but with nearly the same range as the chestnut. 

60. Chinquapin ( Castanopsis cliri/sopliylla) : A medium-sized tree of the western ranges of California and Oregon. 
Coffee tree. 

61. Coffee tree (Gymnocladiis canadetisis) (coffee nut): AVood heavy, hard, strong, very stiff, of coarse texture, 
durable; the sapwood yellow, the heartwood reddish brown; shrinks and checks considerably in drying; 
works and stands well and takes a good polish. It is used to a limited extent in cabinetwork. A medium 
to large sized tree; not common. I'ennsj'lvania to Minnesota and Arkansas. 

CoUonwood. (See Poplar.) 

Cncumier tree. (See Talip.) 

Elm. — Wood heavy, hard, strong, very tough; moderately durable in contact with the soil; commonly crussgrained, 
difficult to split and shape, warps and checks considerably iu drying, but stands well if properly handled. The 
broad sapwood whitish, heart brown, both with shades of gray and red; on split surface rough; texture coarse 
to fine; capable of high polish. Elm is used in the construction of cars, wagons, etc., in boat and shipbuilding, 
for agricultural implements and machinery; in rough cooperage, saddlery and harness work, but particularly in 
the manufacture of all kinds of furniture, where the beautiful figures, especially those of the tangential or 
bastard sections, are just beginning to be duly appreciated. The elms are medium to large sized trees, of fairly 
rapid growth, with stout trunk, form no forests of pure growth, but are found scattered in all the broad-leaved 
woods of our country, sometimes forming a considerable portion of the arborescent gi-owth. 

62. White elm ( Vlmus americana) (American elm, water elm) : Medium to large sized tree, common. Maine to 
Minnesota, southward to Florida and Texas. 

63. Rock elm (Ulmns racemosa) (cork elm, hickory elm, white elm, cliff elm): Medium to large sized tree. 
Michigan, Ohio, from Vermont to Iowa, southward to Kentucky. 

6-t. Red elm {XJhnus puhescens) (slippery elm, moose elm): Small-sized tree, found chiefly along water courses. 
New York to Minnesota, and southward to Florida and Texas. 

65. Ce(\av e\m. (JJlmiis crassifoUa) : Small-sized tree, quite common. Arkansas and Texas. 

66. Winged elm (Ulnms alata) (Wahoo): Small-sized tree, locally quite common. Arkansas, Missouri, and 
eastern Virginia. 

Gum. — This generdl term refers to two kinds of wood usually distinguished as sweet or red gum, and sour, black, or 
tupelo gum, the former being a relative of the witch-hazel, the latter belouging to the dogwood family. 

67. Tupelo {Nyssa sylvatica) (sour gum, black gum) : Maine to Michigan, and southward to Florida and Texas. 
Wood heavy, hard, strong, tough, of fine texture, frequently crossgrained, of yellowish or grayish white 
color, hard to split and work, troublesome in seasoning, warps and checks considerably, and is not durable 
if exposed; used for wagon hubs, wooden ware, handles, wooden shoes, etc. Medium to large sized trees, 
with straight, clear trunks; locally quite abundant, but never forming forests of pure growth. 

68. Tupelo gum (J^yssa aqiiatica) (cotton gum) ; Lower Mississippi basin, northward to Illinois and eastward to 
Virginia, otherwise like preceding species. 

69. Sweet gum (Liquidamhar styracijiua) (red gum, liquidambar, bilsted) : Wood rather heavy, rather soft, quite 
stiff and strong, tough, commonly crossgrained, of fine texture; the broad sapwood whitish, the heartwood 
reddish brown ; the wood shrinks and warps considerably, but does not check badly, stands well when fully 
seasoned, and takes good polish. Sweet gum is used in carpentry, in the manufacture of furniture, for cut 
veneer, for wooden plates, plaques, baskets, etc., also for wagon hubs, hat blocks, etc. A large-sized tree, 
very abundant, often the principal tree In the swampy parts of the bottoms of the Lower Mississippi Valley; 
occurs from New York to Texas and from Indiana to Florida. 

Maclcberry. 

70. Hackberry {Celtis oceidentalis) (sugar berry): The handsome wood, heavy, hard, strong, quite tough, of 
moderately fine texture, and greenish or yellowish white color; shrinks moderately, works well, and takes 
a good polish. So far but little used in the manufacture of furniture. Medium to largo sized tree, locally 
quite common, largest in the Lower Mississippi Valley; occurs in nearly all parts of the Eastern United 
States. 

Hickory. — Wood very heavy, hard, and strong, proverbially tough, of rather coarse texture, smooth and of straight 
grain. The broad sapwood white, theheart reddish nut brown. It dries slowly, shrinks and checks considerably ; 
is not durable in the ground, or if exposed, and, especially the sapwood, is always subject to the inroads of 
boring insects. Hickory excels as carriage aud wagon stock, but is also extensively used in the manufacture of 
implements and machinery, for tool handles, timber pins, for harness work, and cooperage. The hickories are 
tall trees with slender stems, never form forests, occasionally small groves, but usually occur scattered among 
other broad-leaved trees in suitable localities. The following species all contribute more or less to the hickory 
of the markets: 

71. Shagbark hickory {TJUoria orata and H. lacimosa). Shellbark hickory: Medium to large sized trees, quite 
common; the favorite among hickories; best developed in the Ohio and Mississippi basins; from Lake 
Ontario to Texas, Minnesota to Florida. Sliellbark more local. 



AMERICAN WOODS. 93 

72. Mockernut hictory (Hicoria alba) (black liickory, ball and blade nut, big bud, and white-heart liiokory) : A 
medium to large-sized tree, with the same range as the foregoing; common, especially in the South. 

73. Pignut hickory {Hicoria glabra) (brown hickory, black hickory, switch-bud hickory) : Medium to large sized 
tree, abundant; all eastern United States. 

74. Bitternut hickory {Hicoria minima) (swamp hickory) : A medium-sized tree, favoring wet localities, with the 
same range as the preceding. 

75. Pecan (Hicoria pecan) (Illinois nut) : A large tree, very common in the fertile bottoms of the Western streams; 
Indiaua to Nebraska and southward to Louisiana and Texas. 

Holly. 

76. Holly (Ilex opaca) : Wood of medium weight, hard, strong, tough, of fine texture and white color ; works and 
stands well; used for cabinetwork and turnery. A small tree, most abundant in the Lower Mississipj)! Valley 
and Gulf States, but occurring eastward to Massachusetts and northward to Indiana. 

Horse-chestnut. (See Buckei/e.) 

Iromvood. (See Blue beech.) 

Locust. — This name applies to both of the following: 

77. Black locust (Robinia pseudacada) (black locust, yellow locust) : Wood very heavy, hard, strong, and tough, 
of coarse texture, very durable in contact with the soil, shrinks considerably and sufters in seasoning; the 
very narrow sapwood yellowish, the heartwood brown, with shades of red and green. Used for wagon 
hubs, tree nails or pins, but especially for ties, posts, etc. Abroad it is much used for furniture and farm 
implements and also in turnery. Small to medium sized tree, at home in the AUeghenies; extensively 
planted, especially in the West. 

78. Honey locust ((JZefZifeirt triacanthos) (black locust, sweet locust, three-thorucd acacia): AVood heavy, hard, 
strong, tough, of coarse texture, susceptible of a good polish, the narrow sapwood yellow, the heartwood 
brownish red. So far, but little appreciated except for fencing and luel; used to some extent for wagon 
hubs and in rough construction. A medium-sized tree, found from Pennsylvania to Nebraska, and southward 
to Florida and Texas; locally quite abundant. 

Magnolia. (See Tulip.) 

Maple.— Wood. he.avy, hard, strong, stiff, and tough, of fine texture, frequently wavy-grained, this giving rise to 
"curly" and "blister" figures; not durable in the ground or otherwise exposed. Maple is creamy white, with 
shades of light brown in the heart; shrinks moderately, seasons, works and stands well, wears smoothly, and 
takes a fine polish. The wood is used for ceiling, flooring, paneling, stairway, and other finishing lumber in 
house, ship, and car construction; it is used for the keels of boats and ships, in the manufacture of implements 
and machinery, but especially for furniture, where entire chamber sets of maple rival those of oak. Maple is 
also used for shoe lasts and other form blocks, for shoe pegs, for piano actions, school apparatus, for wood type 
in show-bill printing, tool handles, in wood carving, turnery, and scroll work. The maples are medium-sized 
trees, of fairly rapid growth ; sometimes form forests and frequently constitute a large proportion of the arbo- 
rescent growth. 

79. Sugar maple (Acer saccharum) (hard maple, rock maple) : Medium to large sized tree, very common, forms 
considerable forests. Maine to Minnesota, abundant, with birch, in parts of the pineries; southward to 
northern Florida; most abundant in the region of the Great Lakes. 

80. Red maple (Jeer rubruui) (swamp or water maple) : Medium-sized tree. Like the preceding, but scattered 
along water courses and other moist localities. 

81. Silver maple (Acer saccharinum) (soft maple, silver maple): Medium-sized, common; wood lighter, softer, 
inferior to hard maple, and usually oifercd in small (juantities and held separate in the market. Valley of 
the Ohio, but occurs from Maine to Dakota and southward to Florida. 

82. Broad-leafed maple (Acer macrophgllum) : Medium-sized tree, forms considerable forests, and, like the pre- 
ceding, has a lighter, softer, and less valuable wood. Pacific Coast. 

Mulberry. 

83. Red mulberry (Morus rubra) : Wood moderately heavy, hard, strong, rather tough, of coarse texture, durable; 
sapwood whitish, heart yellow to orange brown; shrinks and checks considerably in drying; works and 
stands well. Used iu cooperage and locally in shipbuilding and in the manufacture of farm implements. A 
small-sized tree, common in the Ohio and Mississippi valleys, but widely distributed in the eastern United 
States. 

OaJc. — Wood very variable, usually very heavy and hard, very strong and tough, porous, and of coarse texture; the 
sapwood whitish, the heart " oak" brown to reddish brown. It shrinks aud checks badly, giving trouble in 
seasoning, but stands well, is durable, aud little subject to attacks of insects. Oak is used for many purposes — 
in shipbuilding, for heavy construction, in common carpentry, in furniture, car, and wagon work, cooperage, 
turning, and even in wood carving; also iu the manufacture of all kinds of farm implements, wooden mill 
machinery, for piles and wharves, railway ties, etc. The oaks are medium to large sized trees, forming the 
predominant part of a large portion of our broad-leaved forests, so that thcs(! are generally "oak forests" 
though they always contain a considerable proportion of other kinds of trees. Three well-marked kinds, white, 
' red, aud live oak, are distinguished and kept separate iu the market. Of the two priucipal kiuds white oak is 
the stronger, tougher, less porous, aud more durable. Red oak is usually of coarser texture, more porous, often 
brittle, less durable, and even more troublesome iu seaf5oning than white oak. In carpentry and furniture work 
red oak brings about the same price at present as white oak. The red oaks everywhere accompany the white 
oaks, and, like the latter, are usually represented by several species in. any given locality. Live oak, once 



94 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

largely employed in sbipbiiilding, i^ossesses all the good qualities (except that of size) of white oak, even to a 
greater degree. It is one of the heaviest, hardest, and most durable building timbers of this country; in struc- 
ture it resembles the red oaks, but is much less porous. 

84. White oak {Quercus all/a): Medium to large sized tree, common in the Eastern States, Ohio and Mississippi 
valleys; occurs throughout eastern United States. 

85. Bur oak {Quercus maerocarpa) (mossy-cup oak, over-cup oak): Large-sized tree, locally abundant, common. 
Bottoms west of Mississippi ; range farther west than preceding. 

86. Swamp vrhite oak (Quercus platanokles) : Large-sized tree, common. Most abundant in the Lake States, but 
with range as in white oak. 

87. Chinquapin oak {Quercus acuminata) (chestnut oak): Medium-sized tree. Southern Alleghenies, eastward 
to Massachusetts. 

88. Basket oak (Quercus michauxii) (cow oak): Large-sized tree, locally abundant; Lower Mississippi and 
eastward to Delaware. 

89. Over-cup oak (Quercus lyrata) (swamp white oak, swamp post oak): Medium to large sized tree, rather 
restricted; ranges as in the preceding. 

90. Post oak (Quercus minor) (iron oak): Medium to large sized tree. Arkansas to Texas, eastward to New 
England and northward to Michigan. 

91. Chestnut oak CPHercds j))'m«s) : Medium to large sized tree. Throughout the Allegheny Mountains. 

92. White oak (Quercus garvyana) : Medium to large sized tree. Washington to California. 

93. White oak (Quercus loliata) : Medium to large sized tree; largest oak on the Pacific coast; California. 

94. Red oak (Quei'cus rnhra) (black oak): Medium to large sized tree; common iu all parts of its range. Maine 
to Minnesota, and southward to the Gulf. 

9.5. Black oak (Quercus velutina) (yellow oak) : Medium to large sized tree ; very common in the Southern States, 
but occurring north as far as Minnesota, and eastward to Maine. 

96. Spanish oak (Quercus dirjitata) (red oak) : Medium-sized tree, comr^on in the South Atlantic and Gulf region, 
but found from Texas to New York, and north to Missouri and Kentucky. 

97. Scarlet oak (Quercus coccinea) : Medium to large sized tree; best developed in the lower basin of the Ohio, 
but found from Maine to Missouri, and from Minnesota to Florida. 

98. Pin oak (Quercus palustris) (swamp Spanish oak, water oak): Medium to large si::ed tree, common along 
borders of streams and swamps. Arkansas to Wisconsin, and eastwai'd to the Alleghenies. 

99. Willow oak (Quercus phellos) (peach oak) : Small to medium sized tree. New York to Texas, and northward 
to Kentucky. 

100. Water oak (Quercus nigra) (duck oak, possum oak, punk oak): Medium to large sized tree, of extremely 
rapid growth. Eastern Gulf States, eastward to Delaware and northward to Missouri and Kentucky. 

101. Live oak (Quercus virginiana) : Small-sized tree, scattered along the coast from Virginia to Texas. 

102. Live oak (Quercus clirysolepis) (maul oak, Valparaiso oak) : Medium-sized tree; California. 
Osage orange. 

103. Osage orange (Toxylon pomiferum)(&o\s d'Arc) : Wood very heavy, exceedingly hard, strong, not tough, of 
moderately coarse texture, .and very durable; sapwood yellow, heart brown on the end, yellow on longitudi- 
nal faces, soon turning grayish brown if exposed; it shrinks considerably iu drying, but once dry it stands 
unusually well. Formerly much used for wheel stock in the dry regions of Texas; otherwise employed for 
posts, railway ties, etc. Seems too little appreciated; it is well suited foi turned ware and especially for 
wook carving. A small-sized tree of fairly rapid growth, scattered through the rich bottoms of Arkansas 
and Texas. 

Persimmon. 

104. Persimmon (Diospyros virginiana) : Wood very heavy and hard, strong and tough ; resembles hickory, but 
is of finer texture; the broad sapwood cream color, the heart black; used iu turnery for shuttles, plane 
stocks, shoe lasts, etc. Small to medium sized tree, common and best developed in the lower Ohio Valley, 
but occurs from New York to Texas and Missouri. 

Poplar and coUomocod (see also Tuli}) wood). — Wood light, very soft, not strong, of fine texture and whitish, grayish 
to yellowish color, usually with a satiny luster. The wook shrinks moderately (some crossgrained forms warp 
excessively), but checks little; is easily worked, but is not durable. Used as building and furniture lumber, in 
cooperage for sugar and flour barrels, for crates and boxes (especially cracker boxes), for wooden ware and 
paper jiulp. 

105. Cottonwood (Populus deltoides): Large-sized tree; forms considerable forests along many of the Western 
streams, and furnishes most of the Cottonwood of the market. Mississippi Valley and west; New England 
to the Rocky Mountains. 

106. Balsam (Populus lalsamifera) (balm of Gilead) : Medium to large-sized tree; common all along the northern 
boundary of the United States. 

107. Black Cottonwood (Po()kZhs <n'cAoc(M-j^a) : The largest deciduous tree of Washington ; very common. North- 
ern Rocky Mountains and Pacilic region. 

108. Cottonwood (Pojyulus freniontii vav. toislizeni) : Medium to large-sized tree; common. Texas to California. 

109. Poplar (Populus grandidentata) : Medium-sized tree, chiefly used for pulp, Maine to Minnesota and south- 
ward along the Alleghenies. 

110. Aspen (Populus tremuloides): Small to medium-sized tree, often forming extensive forests and covering 
burned areas. Maine to Washington and northward; south in the Western mountains to California and 
New Mexico. 



AMERICAN WOODS. 



95 



Sour gum. (See Gum.) 
Bed gum. (See Gum.) 
Sassafras. 

111. Sassafras {Sassafras sassafras): Wood liglit, soft, uot strong, brittle, of coarse textnre, durable; sapwood 
yellow, heart orange brown. Used in cooperan;e, for sliitfs, fencing, etc. Medium-sized tree, largest in the 
Lower Mississippi Valley. From New England to Texas and from Michigan to Florida. 

Sioeet gum. (See Gum.) 
Sijcamore. 

112. Sycamore (Platanus occldentalis) (button wood, buttonball tree, water beech) : Wood moderately heavy, quite 
hard, stiff, strong, tougli, usually crossgrained, of coarse texture, and white to light brown color; the wood 
is hard to split and work, shrinks moderately, warps, and checks considerably, but stands well. It is used 
extensively for drawers, backs, bottoms, etc., in cabinetwork, for tobacco boxes, in cooperage, and also for 
finishing lumber where it has too long been underrated. A large tree of rapid growth, common and largest 
in the Ohio and Mississippi valleys, at home in nearly all parts of the Eastern United States. The California 
species — 

113. Platanus racemosa resembles in its wood the Eastern form. 
Tulip wood. 

114. Tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) (yellow poplar, whitewood) : Wood quite variable in weight, usually 
light, soft, stiff but not strong, of fine texture, and yellowish color; the wood shrinks considerably, but 
seasons without much injury; works and stands remarkably well. Used for siding, for paneling, and fin- 
ishing lumber in house, car, and ship building, for sideboards and panels of wagons and carriages; also in 
the manufacture of furniture, imi)lements, and machinery, for puiup logs, and almost every kind of common 
wooden ware, boxes, shelving, drawers, etc. An ideal wood for the carver and toy man. A large tree, does 
not form forests, but is (|uite common, especially in the Ohio basin; occurs from New England to Missouri 
and southward to Florida. 

115. Cucumber tree (ilayuulia acuminata) : A medium-sized tree, most common in the southern AUeghenies, but 
distributed from New York to Arkansas, southward to Alabama and northward to Illinois. Eesembling 
and probably confounded with tulip wood in the markets. 

Tupelo. (See Gum.) 
Walnut. 

116. Black walnut {Juglans nigra) : Wood heavy, hard, strong, of coarse texture; the narrow sapwood whitish, 
the heartwood chocolate brown.* The wood shrinks moderately in drying, works and stands well, takes a 
u'ood polish, is quite handsome, and has been for a long time the favorite cabinet wood in this country. 
Walnut, formerly used even for fencing, has become too costly for ordinary uses, and is today employed 
largely as a veneer for inside finish and cabinetwork, also in turnery, for guustocks, etc. Black walnut is a 
large tree with stout trunk, of rapid growth, and was formerly quite abundant throughout the Allegheny 
region, occurring from New England to Texas, and from Michigan to Florida. 

Wliite walnut. (See Butternut.) 

White wood. (See Tulip anH. eXso Basswood.) 

Yellow poplar. (See Tulip.) 

COMPAEATIVE STATEMENTS OF PROPERTIES OF AMERICAN WOODS. 
Weight of liln-dried wood of different species. 



Weight of— 



1 cubic 1a°°?,£?''* 
foot. 



(a) "Very heavy woods : 

Hickory, oak, persimmon, osago orange, bhick locust, hackberry , blue beech, best of elm, and ash 

(&) Heavy woods : 

Ash, elm, cherry, birch, maple, beech, walnut, sour gum, coffee tree, honey locust, best of Southern 

pine, and tamarack 

(c) Woods of medium weight : 

Southern pine, pitch pine, tamarack, Douglas sprnce, western hemlock, sweet gum, soft maple, syca- 
more, sassafras, mulberry, light grades of birch and cherry 

(rf) Light woods ; 

Norway and bull pine, red cedar, cypress, hemlock, the heavier spruce and hr, redwood, basswood, 

chestnut, butternut, tulip, catalpa, buckeye, heavier grades of poplar 

(c) Very light woods: ■ 

White pine, spruce, dr, white cedar, poplar 

Por scientific names see list above. 



0. 70-0, 80 

. GO- . 70 

. 50- . 60 

.40- .50 
. 30- . 40 



24-30 
18-24 



3,200 

2,700 

2,200 
1,800 



96 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Since the proportiou of sap and heart wood varies with size, age, species, and individual, the 
following figures must be regarded as mere approximations: 

Pounds of water lost in drying 100 2'ounds of green wood in the kiln. 



(1) Pines, cedars, spruces, and firs 

(2) Oypresa, extremely variable 

(3) Poplar, Cottonwood, basswood 

(4) Oak, beecb, ash, elm, maple, birch, hickory, chestnut, walnut, and sycamore . 



Sapwood or 
outer part. 



50-65 
50-65 
40-50 



15-25 
18-60 
40-00 
30-40 



The lighter kinds have the most water in the sapwood, thus sycamore has more than hickory. 

Since the shrinkage of our woods has never been carefully studied, and since wood, even from 
the same tree, varies within considerable limits, the figures given in the following table are to be 
regarded as mere approximations. The shrinkage along the radius and that along the tangent 
(parallel to the rings) are not stated separately in thei, following table, and the figures represent 
an average of the shrinkage in the two directions. Thus, if the shrinkage of soft pine is given at 
3 inches per hundred, it means that the sum of radial and tangential shrinkage is about 6 inches, 
of which about 4 inches fall to the tangent and 2 inches to the radius, the ratio between these 
varying from 3 to 2, a ratio which practically prevails in most of our woods. 

Since only an insignificant longitudinal shrinkage takes place (being commonly less than 0.1 
inch per hundred), the change in volume during drying is about equal to the sum of the radial 
and tangential shrinkage, or twice the amount of linear shrinkage indicated in the table. 

Tims, if the linear average shrinkage of soft pine is 3 inches per hundred, the shrinkage in 
volume is about 6 cubic inches for each 100 cubic inches of fresh wood. 

A2>proximate shrinkage of a board, or set of hoards, 100 inches wide, drying in the open air. 



(1) All light conifers (soft pine, spruce, cedar, cypress) 

(2) Heavy conifers (hard pine, tamarack, yew), iioney locust, box elder, wood of old oak, 

(3) Ash, elm, walnut, poplar, maple, beech, sycamore, cherry, black locust 

(4) Basswood, birch, chestnut, horse-chestnut, blue beech, young locust 

(5) Hickory, young oak, especially red oak 



TJp to 10 



Strength in compression of common American woods in well-seasoned selected pieces. 

[Approximate weight per square inch of cross section requisite to crush a piece of wood endwise.] 

Pounds. 

(1) Black Jocust, yellow and cherry biroli, hard maple, best hickory, longleaf and Cuban pines, and 

tamarack...' - 9, 000-|- 

(2) Common hickovy, oak, birch, .soft maple, walnut, good elm, best ash, shortleaf and loblolly pines, western 

hemlock, and Douglas fir 7, 000-|- 

(3) Ash, sycamore, beech, inferior oak, Pacific white cedar, canoe cedar, Lawson's cypress, common red 

cedar, cypress, Norway and superior spruces, and fir '---- 6, 000-|- 

(4) Tulip, basswood, butternut, chestnut, good poplar, white and other common soft pines, hemlock, spruce, 

and fir 5, COO-f 

(5) Soft poplar, white cedar, and some Western soft pines, and firs 4, 000-|- 

Strength in cross-ireaking of well-seasoned, select pieces. 



strength of 
the extreme 
fiber 
S Wl 

per square 



2 by 2 inches 

and ^ feet 

long. 



(]) Kobinia (locust), hard maple, hickory, oak, birch, best ash and elm, longleaf, shortleaf, and 
Cuban pines, tamarack -- 

(2^ Soft maple, cherry, ash. elm, walnut, inferior oak, and birch, best poplar, Norway, loblolly, 

and pitch pines,' black and white si)ruco, liemlock, and good cedar 

(3) Tulip, basswood, sycamore, butternut, poplars, wliite and other soft pines, firs, and cedars 



Poxcnds. 
13, 000 



AMERICAN WOODS. 



1)7 



Prom the following table of strengtli in tension and compression it will be seen that these 
two are not always proportional, the stiffer conifers excelling in the latter, the tougher hardwoods 
in the former : 

Ratio of strength in tension and compression, showing the difference between rigid eonifers and tough hard woods. 



Hatio : 

Tensile 

strengtli. 

E = 



A stick 1 square inch 

in cross section. 
Weight required to — 



Pullapa^t. ^^I'^l^ 



Hickory 

Elm 

Larch 

Longleaf pine 



Pounds. 
32, 000 
29, 000 
19, 400 
17, 300 



Founds. 
8,500 
7,500 



Table of stiffneas {modnhm of elasticity) of dry wood. — General averages. 



Modulus of 
elasticity 



4D6d3 

per square 



Approximate weight whicli 
deflects by 1 inch a piece — 



1 by 1 inch 

and 12 inches 

long, 



2 by 2 inches 
and 10 feet 
' long. 



(1) Live oak, good tamarack, longleaf. Cuban, and ahortleaf ]>ine, good Doiiglaa spruce, western 

hemlock, yellow and cherry birt^h, hard maple, beecb, Incust, and tbe best of oak and hickory . 

(2) Birch, common oak, hickory, white and black spruce, loblolly and red pine, cypress, best of ash, 

elm, and poplar and black walnut 

(3) Maples, cherry, ash, elm, sycamore, sweet gum, butternut, poplar, bass wood, white, sugar, and 

bull pine, cedars, scrub pine, hemlock, and fir 

(4) Bos elder, horse chestnut, a number of western soft pinea, inferior grades of hard woods 



In general wet or greenwood shears about one-third more easily than dry wood j a surface 
parallel to the rings (tangent) shears more easily than one parallel to the medullary rays. The 
lighter conifers and hard woods oft'er less resistance than the heavier kinds, but the best of pine 
shears one-third to one-half more readily than oak or hickory, indicating that great shearing 
strength is characteristic of "toueh" woods. 



Reaiatance to shearing along the fiber. 



Per 
square 
inch. 



(1) Locust, oak, hickory, elm, maple, asb, birch 

(2) Sycamore, longleaf, Cuban, and ahortleaf pine, and tamarack 

(3) Tulip, bass wood, better class of poplar, Norway, loblolly, and white pine, spruce, red. cedar 

(4) Soft poplar, hemlock, white cedar, flr '. , 



'Over. ^Leggt^an. 

Note.— Resistance to shearing, although a most important quality in wood, has not been satisfactorily studied. The values in the 
above table, taken from various authors, lack a reliable experimental basis and can be considered as only a little better than guesswork. 

The following indicates the hardness of our common woods: 

1. Very hard woods requiring over 3,200 pounds x^er square inch to produce an indentation 
of one-twentieth inch: Hickory, hard maj^le, osage orange, black locust, persimmon, and the best 
of oak, elm, and hackberry. 

2. Hard woods requiring over li,400 pounds per square inch to produce an indentation of one- 
twentieth inch : Oak, elm, ash, cherry, birch, black walnut, beech, blue beech, mulberry, soft maple, 
holly, sour gum, honey locust, coffee tree, and sycamore. 

3. Middling hard woods, requiring over 1,600 j)ounds per square inch to produce an indentation 
of one-twentieth inch: The better qualities of Southern and Western hard pine, tamarack, and 
Douglas spruce, sweet gum, and the lighter qualities of birch. 

4. Soft woods requiring less than 1,600 pounds per square inch to produce an indentation of 
one-twentieth inch : The greater mass of coniferous wood; pine, spruce, fir, hemlock, cedar, cypress, 
and redwood; poplar, tulip, basswood, butternut, chestnut, buckeye, and catalpa, 

H. Doc. No. 181 7 



98 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
lianije of durabiliiy in railroad ties. 



White oak and chestnut oak. 

Chestnut 

Black locust 

Cherrjf, black walnut, locust . 



Tears. ■ Tears. 

8 Redwood , 12 

8 Cypress and red cedar 10 

10 ' Tamarack 7 to 8 

7 Longleafpiue 6 




B, "hard" pint 
inner edge of 



O, soft pine : ar, annual 
iigi s. w., summer wood; 



Elm 6 to 7 I Hemlock 4 to 6 

Red and black oaks 4 to 5 I Spruce 5 

Ash, beech, maple 4 | 

HOW TO DISTINGUISH THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF WOOD. 

The carpenter or other artisan who handles different woods becomes familiar with those he 
employs frequently, and learns to distinguish them through this familiarity, without usually being 
able to state the points of distinction. If a wood comes before him with which he is not familiar, 
he has, of course, no means of determining what it is, and it is possible to select pieces even of 
those with which he is well acquainted, different in appearance from the general run, that will 
make him doubtful as to their identification. Furthermore, he may distinguish between hard and 
soft pines, between oak and ash, or between maple and birch, which are characteristically different; 
but when it comes to distinguishing between the several siiecies of pine or oak or ash or birch, 
the absence of readily recognizable characters is such that but few practitioners can be relied upon 

to do it. Hence, in the market we 
find many species mixed and sold 
indiscriminately. 

To identify the difl'erent woods it 
is necessary to have a knowledge of 
the definite, invariable dift'erences in 
their structure, besides that of the 
often variable differences in their ap- 
pearance. These structural differ- 
ences may either be readily visible to 
the naked eye or with a magnifier, 
or they may require a microscopical 
examination. In some cases such an examination can not be dispensed with, if we would make 
absolutely sure. There are instances, as in the i^ines, where even our knowledge of the minute 
anatomical structure is not yet sufficient to make a sure identification. 

In the following key an attempt has been made — the first, so far as we know, in English 
literature — to give a synoptical view of the distinctive features of the commoner woods of the 
United States which are found in the markets or are used in the arts. It will be observed that 
the distinction has been carried in most instances no further than to genera or classes of woods, 
since the distinction of species can hardly be accomplished without elaborate microscopic study, 
and also that, as far as possible, reliance has been placed only on such characteristics as can be 
distinguished with the naked eye or a simple magnifying glass, in order to make the key useful 
to the largest number. Eecourse has also been taken for the same reason to the less reliable and 
more variable general external appearance, color, taste, smell, weight, etc. 

The user of the key must, however, realize that external ajipearance, such, for example, as 
color, is not only very variable but also very difficult to describe, individual observers differing 
especially in seeing and describing shades of color. The same is true of statements of size, when 
relative, and not accurately measured, while weight and hardness can perhaps be more readily 
approximated. Whether any feature is distinctly or only indistinctly seen will also depend some- 
what on individual eyesight, opinion, or practice. In some cases the resemblance of different 
species is so close that only one other expedient will make distinction possible, namely, a knowl- 
edge of the region from which the wood has come. We know, for instance, that no longleaf j)ine 
grows in Arkansas, and that no white pine can come from Alabama, and we can separate the 
white cedar, giant arbor vita^ of the West and the arbor vitas of the Ifortheast only by the 
difference of the locality from which the specimen comes. With all these limitations properly 



sp.w -■ 



Fig. 4. — "Non-porous" woods. A, fir; 
ring; 0. e., outer edge of ring; i. e 
sp. w., spring wood; rd, resin ducts. 



AMERICAN WOODS. 



99 



appreciated, the key will l)e found helpful toward greater familiarity with the woods which are 
more commonly met with. 

The features which have been utilized in the key and with which— their names as well as their 
appearance— therefore, the reader must familiarize himself before attempting to use the key, are 
mostly described as they appear in cross section. They are: 

(1) Sapwood and heartwood, the former being the wood from the outer and the latter from the 
inner part of the tree. In some cases they differ only in shade, and in others in kind of color, 
the heartwood exhibiting either a darker shade or a pronounced color. Since one cau not always 
have the two together, or be certain whether he has sapwood or heartwood, reliance upon this 
feature is, to be sure, unsatisfactory, yet sometimes it is the only general characteristic that cau 
be relied upon. If further assurance is 

desired, microscopic structure must be /P ^ 

examined; in such cases reference has 1^5qIp°-°— J 1°^-^^ 
been made to the presence or absence 
of tracheids in pith rays and the struc- 
ture of their walls, especially prqjec- 
ions and spirals. 

(2) Annual rings. They are more 
or less distinctly marked, and by means 
of such marking a classification of three 
great groups of wood is possible. 

(3) Spring wood and summer wood, 
the former being the interior (first 
formed wood of the year), the latter the exterior (last formed) part of the ring. The proportion of 
each and the manner in which the one merges into the other are sometimes used, but more 
frequently the manner in which the pores appear distributed in either. 

(4) Pores, which are vessels cut through, appearing as holes in cross section, in longitudinal 
section as channels, scratches, or indentations. They appear only in the broad-leaved, so called, 
hard woods; their relative size (large, medium, small, minute, and indistinct, when they cease to 
be visible individually by the naked eye) and manner of distribution in the ring being of much 
importance, and especially in the summer wood, where they appear singly, in grou^js, or short 
broken lines, in continuous concentric, often wavy, lines, or in radial branching lines. 

(5) Resin ducts (see fig. 4), 




FlG.S.— "Eiug 

•«'., 'iTimmer wood ; sp 

lines ; rt, darker tracts of hard fibe: 

pitli rays. 




ods — white oak and hickory, a. r 
., spring wood ; v, vessels or pores ; 



annual ring 
I., "concentric" 



i forming the firm part of oak wood ; pr 



ft b , d 




ieech 

'Diftuse-porous' 



Sycamore I Birch ! 



oods. «r, annual ring; pr, pith rays 
"fine" at &, "indistinct" at il. 



which appear very much like 
pores in cross section, namely, 
as holes or lighter or darker 
colored dots, but much more 
scattered. They occur only in 
coniferous woods, and their 
presence or absence, size, num- 
ber, and distribution are an 
important distinction in these 
woods. 

(6) Pith rays (see fig. 6), 
which in cross section appear 
as radial lines, and in radial section as interrupted bands of varying breadth, impart a peculiar 
luster to that section in some woods. They are most readily visible with the naked eye or with a 
magnifier in the broad-leaved woods. In coniferous woods they are usually so fine and closely 
packed that to the casual observer they do not appear. Their breadth and their greater or less 
distinctness are used as distinguishing marks, being styled fine, broad, distinct, very distinct, 
conspicuous, and indistinct when no longer visible by the naked (strong) eye. 

(7) Concentric lines, appearing in the summer wood of certain sj)ecies more or less distinct, 
resembling distantly the lines of pores but much finer and not consisting of pores. (See fig. 5). 

Of microscopic features, the following only have been referred to: 

(8) Tracheids. 



100 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

(9) Pits, simple and bordered, especially the number of simple pits in the cells of the pith 
rays, which lead into each of the adjoining tracheids. 

For standards of weight, consult table on page 95 ; for standards of hardness, statement on 
page 97. 

Unless otherwise stated the color refers always to the fresh cross section of a piece of dry 
wood; sometimes distinct kinds of color, sometimes only shades, and often only general color 
effects appear. 

HOW TO USE THE KEY. 

Nobody need expect to be able to use successfully any key for the distinction of woods or of 
any other class of natural objects without some practice. This is especially true with regard to 
■woods, which are apt to vary much, and when the key is based on such meager general data as 
the present. The best course to adopt is to supply one's self with a small sample collection of 
woods accurately named. Small, polished tablets are of little use for this purpose. The pieces 
should be large enough, if j)ossible, to include pith and bark, and of sufficient width to permit 
ready inspection of the cross section. By examining these with the aid of the key, beginning 
with the better-kuowu woods, one will soon learu to see the features described and to form an idea 
of the relative standards which the maker of the key had in mind. To aid in this, the accom- 
panying illustrations will be of advantage. When the reader becomes familiar with the key, the 
work of identifying any given piece will be comparatively easJ^ The material to be examined 
musti, of course, be suitably prepared. It should be moistened ; all cuts should be made with a 
very sharp knife or razor and be clean and smooth, for a bruised surface reveals but little struc- 
ture. The most useful cut may be made along one of the edges. Instructive, thin, small sections 
may be made with a sharp penknife or razor, and when i^laced on a piece of thin glass, moistened 
and covered with another piece of glass, they may be examined by holding them toward the light. 

Finding, on examination with the magnifier, that it contains pores, we know it is not conifer- 
ous or nonporous. Finding no pores collected in the spring- wood portion of the annual ring, but 
all scattered (diffused) through the ring, we turn at once to the class of " Difluse-porous woods." 
We now note the size and manner in which the pores are distributed through the ring. Finding 
them very small and neither conspicuously grouped, nor larger nor more abundant in the spring 
wood, we turn to the third group of this class. We now note the pith rays, and flndipg them 
neither broad nor conspicuous, but difficult to distinguish, even with the magnifier, we at once 
exclude the wood from the first two sections of this group and place it in the third, which is repre- 
sented by only cue kind, cottonwood. Finding the wood very soft, white, and on the longitudinal 
section with a silky luster, we are further assured that our determination is correct. We may 
now turn to the list of woods and obtain further information regarding the occurrence, qualities, 
and uses of the wood. 

Sometimes our progress is not so easy; we may waver in what group or section to place the 
wood before us. In such cases we may try each of the doubtful roads until we reach a point 
where we find ourselves entirely wrojig, and then return and take up another line; or we may 
anticipate some of the later-mentioned features and finding them apply to our specimen, gain 
additional assurance of the direction we ought to travel. Color will often help us to arrive at a 
speedy decision. In many cases, especially with conifers, which are rather diflflcult to distinguish, 
a knowledge of the locality from which the specimen comes is at once decisive. Thus, northern 
white cedar, and bald cypress, and the cedar of the Pacific will be identified, even without the 
somewhat indefinite criteria given in the key. 

KEY TO THE MORE IMPORTANT WOODS OF NORTH AMERICA. 

I. Nonporous woods. — Pores not visible or conspicuous ou cross sectiou, even witb magnifier. Annual rings 
distinct by denser (dark-colored) bands of summer wood (fig. 37). 

II. Ring-porous woods. — Pores numerous, usually visible ou cross section without magnifier. Aunual rings 
distinct by a zone of large pores collected in the spring wood, alternating with the denser summer wood (fig. 5). 

///. Diffuse-porous icoods.— Pores numerous, usually not plainly visible on cross section without magnifier. 
Annual rings distinct by a fine line of denser summer-wood cells, often quite indistinct; pores scattered through 
annual ring; no zone of collected pores in spring wood (fig, 6). 

Note. — The above-described three groups are exogenous, i. e., they grow by adding annually wood on their 
circumference. A fourth group is formed by the endogenous woods, like yuccas and palms, which do not grow by 
such additions. 



AMERICAN WOODS. 101 

I. NONPOROUS Woods. 

(Includes all coniferous ^voods.) 
A. Resin ducts -wanting.' 

1. No distinct lieartwood. 

a. Color eifect yellowisli white; summer wood darlier yellowish (under microscope pith ray without 

tracheids) _ Firs. 

h. Color effect reddish (roseate) (under microscope pith ray with tracheids) Hemlock. 

2. Heartwood present, color decidedly different in kind from sapwood. 

a. Heartwood light orange red ; sapwood pale lemon ; wood heavy and hard Ye^v. 

1>. Heartwood purplish to brownish red; sapwood yellowish white ; wood soft to medium hard light, 

usually with aromatic odor Bed cedar, 

c. Heartwood maroon to terra cotta or deep brownish red; sapwood light orange to dark amber, very soft 

and light, no odor ; pith rays very distinct, specially pronounced on radial section Redwood. 

3. Heartwood present, color only different in shade from sapwood, dingy-yellowish brown. 

a. Odorless and tasteless Bald cypress . 

b. Wood with mild resinous odor, but tasteless White cedar. 

c. Wood with strong resinous odor and peppery taste when freshly cut : Incense cedar. 

B. Resin ducts present. 

1. No distinct heartwood ; color white ; resin ducts very small, not numerous Spruce. 

2. Distinct heartwood present. 

a. Resin ducts numerous, evenly scattered through the ring. 

a'. Transition from spring wood to summer wood gradual ; annual ring distinguished by a fine line of 

dense summer-wood cells; color white to yellowish red; wood soft and light Soft pincs.^ 

V. Transition from spring wood to summer wood more or less abrupt; broad bands of dark-colored 

summer wood ; color from light to deep orange; wood medium hard and heavy Hard pines.- 

i. Resin ducts not numerous nor evenly distributed. 

a'. Color of heartwood orange-reddish; sapwood yellowish (same as hard pine) ; resin dxicts frequently 
combined in groups of 8 to 30, forming lines on the cross section (tracheids with spirals), 

Douglas spruce. 
b'. Color of heartwood light russet brown; of sapwood yellowish brown; resin ducts very few, irregu- 
larly scattered (tracheids without spirals) Tamarack. 

ADDITIONAL NOTES FOR DISTINCTIONS IN THE GROUP. 

Spruce is hardly distinguishable from fir except by the existence of the resin ducts, and microscopically by the 
presence of tracheids in the medullary rays. Spruce may also be confounded with soft pine, except for the heart- 
wood color of the latter and the larger, more frequent, and more readily visible resin ducts. 

In the lumber yard, hemlock is usuallj- recognized by color and the silvery character of its surface. Western 
hemlocks partake of this last character to a less degree. 

Microscopically the white pine can be distinguished by having usually only one large pit, while spruce shows 
three to five very small pits in the parenchyma cells of the pith ray communicating with the tracheid. 

The distinction of the pines is possible only by microscopic examination. The following distinctive features 
may assist in recognizing, when in the log or lumber pile, those usiually found in the market : 

The light straw color, combined with great lightness and softness, distinguishes the white pines (white pine 
and sugar pine) from the hard pines (all others in the market), which may also be recognized by the gradual change 
of spring wood into summer wood. This change in hard pines is abrupt, making the summer wood appear as a 
sharply defined and more or less broad band. 

The Norway pine, which may be confounded with the shortleaf pine, can be distinguished by being much 
lighter and softer. It may also, but more rarely, be confounded with heavier white pine but for the sharper defini- 
tion of the annual ring, weight, and hardness. 

The longleaf pine is strikingly heavy, hard, and resinous, and usually very regular and narrow ringed, showing 
little sapwood, and differing in this respect from the shortleaf pine and loblolly jiine, which usually have wider 
rings and more sapwood, the latter excelling in that respect. 

The following convenient and useful classification of pines into four groups, proposed by Dr. H. Mayr, is based 
on the appearance of the pith ray as seen in a radial section of the spring wood of any ring : 
Section I. Walls of the tracheids of the pith ray with dentate projections. 

a. One to two large, simple pits to each tracheid on the radial walls of the cells of the pith ray. — Group 1. 

Represented in this country only by P. resinosa. 

b. Three to six simple pits to each tracheid, on the walls of the cells of the pith ray. Group 2. P. laeda, palustris, 
etc., including most of our "hard" and "yellow" pines. 

' To discover the resin ducts a very smooth surface is necessary, since resin ducts are frequently seen only with 
difficulty, appearing on the cross section as fine whiter or darker spots, normally scattered singly, rarely in groups, 
usually in the summer wood of the annual ring. They are often much more easily seen on radial, and still more so 
on tangential sections, appearing there as fine lines or dots of open structure of different color or as indentations or 
pin scratches in a longitudinal direction. 

= Soft and hard pines are arbitrary distinctions and the two not distinguishable at the limit. 



102 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

Section II. Walls of traclieids of pith my smooth, without dentate projections. 

a. One or two large pits to each tracheid on the radial walls of each cell of the pith ray.— Group 3. /'. strobiib, 

lambertiana, and other true wliito pines. 
h. Three to sis small pits on the radial walls of each cell of tlie pith ray.— Group 4. P. parnjana, and other nut 
pines, including also /'. halfouriana. 

II. Ring-porous Woods. 

[Some of Group D and cedar elm imperfectly ring-porous.] 
A. Pores in the summer wood minute, scattered singly or iu groups, or in short broken lines, the course of which is 
never radial. 

1. Pith rays minute, scarcely distinct. 

a. Wood heavy and hard; pores in the summer wood not in clusters. 

a'. Color of radial section not yellow -Jsft. 

b'. Color of radial section light yellow ; by which, together with its hardness and weight, this species 

is easily recognized r- Osage orange. 

1). AVood light and soft; pores in tlie summer wood in clusters of 10 to 30 Gaialpa. 

2. Pith ravs very fine, yet distinct; pores iu summer wood usually single or iu short lines; color of heartwood 

reddish brown, of sapwood yellowish white; peculiar odor on fresh section Sassafras. 

3. Pith rays fine, but distinct. 

a. Very heavy aud hard ; heartwood yellowish brt)wn Blaolc locust. 

1). Heavy; medium hard to hard. 

a'. Pores in summer wood very minute, usually in small clusters of 3 to 8; heartwood light orange 
brown - -Sc(i mulberry. 

V . Pores in summer wood small to minute, usually isolated ; heartwood cherry red Coffee tree. 

4. Pith rays fine but very conspicuous, even witliout magnifier ; color of heartwood red, of sapwood pale 

lemon -- - Honey locust. 




Fig. 7.— Wood of coffee tree. 

B. Pores of summer wood minute or small, in concentric wavy aud sometimes branching lines, appearing as finely 

feathered hatchings on tangential section. 

1. Pith rays fine, but very distinct; color greenish white; heartwood absent or imperfectly developed. 

Hachherry. 

2. Pith rays indistinct; color of heartwood reddish brown, sapwood grayish to reddish white Elms. 

C. Pores of summer v^ood arranged in radial branching linos (when very crowded radial arrangement somewhat 

obscured). 

1. Pith rays very minute, hardly visible Chestnut. 

2. Pith rays very broad aud conspicuous Oak. 

D. Pores of summer wood mostly but little smaller than those of the spring wood, isolated and scattered; very 

heavy and hard woods. The pores of the spring wood sometimes form but an imperfect zone. (Some diffuse- 
porous woods of groups A and B may seem to belong here.) 

1. Fine concentric lines (not of pores) as distinct, or nearly so, as the very fine pith rays; t>uter summer wood 

with a tinge of red, heartwood light reddish brown Hickory. 

2. Fine concentric lines, much finer than the i>ith rays; no reddish tinge in summer wood, sapwood white, 

heartwood blackish Persimmon. 



ADDITIONAL NOTES FOR DISTINCTIONS IN THK CROUP. 



Sassafras and mulberry may be confounded but for the greater weight and hardness aud the absence of odor in 
the mulberry; the radial section of mulberrv also shows the iiith rays conspicuously. 

Honey locust, coflee tree, and black locust are also very similar in appeai'auce. The honey locust stands out by 
the conspicuousuess of the pith rays, especially on radial sections, on account of their height, while the black locust 
is distinguished by the extremely great weight andhardness, together with its darker brown color. 



AMERICAN WOODS. 



103 



The ashes, elms, hickories, and oaks may, on casual observation, appear to resemble one another on account of 
the pronounced zone of porous spring wood. The sharply defined large pith rays of the oak exclude these at once; 
the wavy lines of pores in the summer wood, appearing as conspicuous, finely feathered hatchings on tangential 
section, distinguish the elms; while the ashes differ from the hickory by the very conspicuously defined zone of 
spring- wood pores, which in hickory appear more or less interrupted. The reddish hue of the hickory and the more 
or less brown hue of the ash may also aid in ready recognition. The smooth, radial surface of split hickory will 
readily separate it from the rest. 




Fig. 10 Wood of cliestuut. 



Tlie different species of ash may be identified as follows: 

]. Pores in the summer wood more or less united into lines. 

a. The lines short and broken, occurring mostly near the limit of the ring.. 
i. The lines (juite long and conspicuous in most parts of the summer wood. 



. ff kite ash. 
. Green ash. 



104 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



2. Pores in the summer wood not united into lines, or rarely so. 

a. Heartwood reddish brown and very firm Bed ash. 

b. Heartwood grayish brown, and much more porous Black ash. 

In the oalis, two groups can be readily distinguished by the manner in which the pores are distributed in the 
summer wood. In the white oaks the pores are very fine and numerous and crowded in the outer part of the 
summer wood, while in the black or red oaks the pores are larger, few in number, and mostly isolated. The live 
oaks, as far as structure is coTicerned, belong to the black oaks, but are much less porous, and are exceedingly 
heavy and hard. 

III. Dii'FOSE-PORous Woods. 

[A few inilistinrtly ring-porous woods of Group If, D, and cedar elm niny seem to belong here.] 

A. Pores varying in size from large to minute; largest in spring wood, thereby giving sometimes the appearance of 

a ring-jiorous arrangement. 

1. Heavy and hard; color of heartwood (especially on longitudinal section) chocolate brown Blackwalniit. 

2. Light and soft ; color of heartwood light reddish brown Butternut. 

B. Pores all minute and indistinct; most numerous in spring wood, giving rise to a lighter colored zone or line 

(especially on longitudinal section), thereby appearing sometimes ring porous; wood hard, heartwood vinous 
reddish; pith rays very fine, but very distinct. (See also the sometimes indistinct ring-porous cedar elm, and 
occasionally winged elm, which are readily distinguished by the concentric wavy lines of pores in the summer 
wood) Cherry. 




TPia. 11.— Wood of hickory. 

C. Pores minute or indistinct, neither c(mspicuously larger nor more numerous in. the spring wood and evenly 
distributed. 

1. Broad pith rays present. 

a. All or most pith rays broad, nnmerons, and crowded, especially on tangential sections, medium heavy 

and hard, difficult to split Sycamore. 

h. Only part of the pith rays broad. 

a'. Broad pith rays well defined, iiuite numerous ; wood reddish-white to reddish Beech. 

h'. Broad pith rays not sharply defined, made up of many small rays, not numerous. Stem fur- 
rowed, and therefore the periphery of section, and with it the annual rings, sinuous, bending in 
.and out, and the large pith rays generally limited to the furrows or concave portions. Wood white, 
not reddish _ Bhie teech. 

2. No broad pith rays present. 

a. Pith rays small to very small, but ijuite distinct. 
a'. Wood hard. 

a" Color reddish white, with dark reddish tinge in outer summer wood -- Maple. 

i". Color white, without reddish tinge Solly. 

V . Wood soi't to very soft. 

a". Pores crowded, occupying nearly all the space between pith rays. 

a'" . Color yellowish white, often with a greenish tinge in heartwood Tiilip poplar, 

Cucumber tree. 

V" . Color of sapwood grayish, of heartwood light to dark reddish brown Sxveet gum. 

b". Pores not crowded, occupying not over one-third the space between pith rays; heartwood 

brownish white to very light brown Basswood. 

b. Pith rays scarcely distinct, yet if viewed with ordinary m.ignifier, plainly visible. 
a'. Pores indistinct to the naked eye. 

a". Color uniform pale yellow j pith rays not conspicuous even on the radial section Buckeye. 

v. Sapwood yellowish gray, heartwood grayish brown; iiith rays conspicuous on the radial sec- 
tion - Sour gum 

V. Pores scarcely distinct, but mostly visible as grayish specks on fhe cross section; sapwood whit- 
ish, heartwood reddish 



AMERICAN WOODS. 



105 



D. Pith, rays not visible or else indistinct, even if viewed witii maguider. 

1. Wood very soft, white, or in shades of brown, tisually with a silky luster Cottonwood (poplar) . 

ADDITIONAL NOTES FOR DISTINCTIONS IN THE GROUP. 

Cherry and birch are sometimes confounded. The higli pith rays on the cherry on radial sections readily distin- 
guish it; distinct pores on birch and spring-wood zone in cherry as well as the darker vinous brown color of the 
latter will prove helpful. 

a b , d 




. _Beech . j- Sycamore i Birch ,- 

Fk;. 12. — "Wood of "beech, sycamore, and birch. 




rio. U.— "Wood of elm. a rod dm ; 6 white elm ; 



Two groups of birches can be readily distinguished, though specific distinction is not always possible. 

1. Pith rays fairly distinct, the pores rather few and not more abundant in the spring wood; wood heavy, 

usually darker CUrry birch and yellow hirch. 

2. Pith rays barely distinct, pores more numerous and commonly forming a more porous spring- wood zone; 

wood of medium weight...... Canoe or paper Urch. 

The species of maple may be distinguished as follows : 

1. Most of the pith rays broader than the pores and very conspicuous Sufiar maple. 



106 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

2. Pith rays not or rarely broader than the pores, fine but conspicuous. 

a. Wood heavy and hard, usually of darker reddish color and commonly spotted on cross section. .JJed maple. 

b. Wood of medium weight and hardness, usually light colored Silver maple. 

Red maple is not always safely distinguished from soft maple. In box elder the pores are finer and more 

numerous than in soft maple. 

The various species of elm may be distinguished as follows ; 

1. Pores of spring wood form a broad band of several rows ; easy splitting, dark brown heart Red elm. 

1. Pores of spring wood usually in a single row, or nearly so. 

a. Pores of spring wood large, conspicuously so White elm. 

b. Pores of spring wood small to minnte. 

a'. Lines of pores in summer wood fine, not as wide as the intermediate spaces, giving rise to very 

compact grain Mock dm. 

b'. Lines of pores broad, commonly as wide as the intermediate spaces Winged elm. 

c. Pores in spring wood indistinct, and therefore hardly a ring-porous wood Cedar elm. 





Fig. 15.— Wood of Tvalnat. p. r., iiitli rays; 
c. I., concentriclines ; v, vessels or pores; 
su.w., summer wood ; sp.w., spring wood. 



Flo. 16 'Wood of cherry. 



STRUCTURK OF THE WOOD OF THE FIVE SOUTHERN PINES.' 

The wood of these innes is so much alike in appearance and even in minute structure that 
it can be discussed largely without distinction of species. The distinctions, as far as there are 
any, have been pointed out in the introduction. Here it is proposed to give in more detail the 
characteristics of the wood structure. 

SAP AND HEART WOOD. 

All five species have a distinct sap and heart wood, the sap being light yellow to whitish, the 
heart yellowish to reddish or orange brown. The line of demarcation between the two is well 
defined, without any visible transition stage. The location of this line does not as a rule coincide 
with the line of any annual ring, so that the wood of the same year's growth may be sap on one 
side of the tree and heart on the other. The difference in this condition may amount to ten or 
twenty rings, which ou one side of the same section will be heart, on the other side sap. 

There is considerable variation in the relative width of the two zones as well as the number 
of rings involved in either and also in the age at which the transition from sap to heart-wood 
begins. This age was rarely found to be below twenty years; as a rule the transformation begins 
in young trees when the particular section of the tree is between twenty and twenty-five years 
old, but the ijrogress of heart formation does not keep pace with the annual growth, being more 
and more retarded as the tree grows older, so that while in a section twenty-five years old twenty- 
two rings may be sap wood, at thirty-five years the sapwood will comprise only thirty rings; at 
forty-five years, forty rings; at eighty years, fifty rings ; and in sections two huntlred years old 
the outer eighty to one hundred rings will still be sap. A young tree of longleaf pine (No. 22) 
was, for instance, found to show the following relations: 



Section. 


Height 

from 
.stump. 


Age of 
section. 


Kings of 
sap. 


Ill ... . 


Feet. 
6 
14 
22 
30 
42 


Tearti. 
46 
38 
30 

24 
18 


Xnmber. ' 
40 


IV 


33 

27 

23 

■ .17 


VII 


XX 


XII 





' Keprinted from Bulletin 13. 



WOOD OF SOUTHERN PINES. 107 

The change from sap to heart wood begins earlier iu young trees than iu the younger portions 
of older trees; iu these latter, sections thirty-six and forty years old are quite conimouly found 
still entirely made up of sapwood, while in young trees, as stated above, the change begins before 
the age of thirty years. 

The progress of the transformation is somewhat influenced by the rate of growth; it is slower 
in slow-growing trees and usually also on the slower-growing radius, 1. e., there are more rings of 
sapwood. The width of the sapwood, on the other hand, stands in relation to the rate of growth 
iu an opposite manner; it is wider in young and thrifty than in old and stunted trees, and widest 
along the greatest radius of any section; similarly, it is wider in the faster-growing loblolly, Cuban, 
and spruce pines than in the slow- growing longleaf. 

Besides being of a lighter color the sapwood differs from the heartwood in several respects. 
Its resin is limpid and oozes out of the pores or resin ducts of any fresh cut; that of the heartwood 
does not flow, except in rare cases, from saturated pieces or "light wood." The sapwood contains 
much less rosin — both rosin and turpentine — than the heartwood. Thus in a section of longleaf 
the sapwood contained only 0.2 per cent of turpentine and 1 per cent of rosin, while the heart 
contained from 2 to 4 per cent of turpentine and 12 to 2-1 per cent of rosin, and though this is an 
extreme case the heart generally has three to five times as much resinous matter as the sap. The 
fresh sapwood contains three to five times as much free water as the heartwood and is, even when 
seasoned, more hygroscopic and subject to relatively greater shrinkage than the heart. This 
capacity for taking up water readily is probably one of the reasons why sapwood decays more 
readily. Iu addition, the parenchyma cells of the medullary rays and resin ducts (see further on) 
contain, at least in the outer parts of the sapwood, living protoplasm and reserve food materials 
which are readily seized upon by fungi which cause "bluing" and decay. Such living tissue does 
not exist in the heartwood. The heartwood in old logs generally is heavier than the sapwood. 
This is not due to any later thickening or growth of its cell walls, after their original formation, 
but is due chiefly to two causes : 

1. The heartwood of old logs was formed when the tree was younger, and made, naturallj^, 
heavier wood. 

2. The accumulation of resin in the heart already referred to increases often very considerably 
the weight of the heartwood. 

In the same way the sapwood of old logs, such as supply the sawmills, is weaker than the 
heartwood of the same logs, but this is not because the wood is in the sapwood condition, but 
because it is lighter and its summerwood ijer cent smaller, being, as stated before, the product of 
old age, when heavy and strong wood is no longer formed. Chemically the wood substance of 
sapwood is practically like that of heartwood; the coloring substances which permeate the cell 
walls in heartwood appear to be infiltrations, i. e., deposited in the walls from solutions; they are 
insignificant in amount, and their true nature, especially the processes leading to their formation, 
are not yet fully understood. The most modern views which consider these coloring bodies or 
heartwood substances as products of oxidation of tannin still require confirmation. 

ANNUAL RINGS. 

The layers of growth, known and appearing on any cross section as annual rings, show very 
distinctly in the wood of these pines. In a section 8 or 10 feet from the ground the rings are 
widest at the center, of considerable width for the first thirty to fifty rings, the i^eriod of most 
rapid growth in height; then they grow more and more narrow toward the periphery. In the last 
sixty to one hundred rings of very old logs the decrease is very small, the rings remaining 
practically of the same width. The same year's growth is usually wider in the upper jiart of 
the stem, both in young and old trees, but the average width of the rings is naturally greater 
in the upper part ouly of young trees; in old and also in stunted trees it is smaller, since in 
these the upper x^ortions do not share in the more rapid growth of the early years. 

Rings over half an inch wide are frequently seen iu loblolly and occur in sprnce pine; rings 
one-fourth of an inch in width occur in very thrifty saplings of all five species, but the average 
width of the rings for sapling timber is usually less than one- fourth of an inch, commonly one-eighth. 
In trees over one hundred years old it drops to one-twelfth of an inch and even below. The average 



108 FORESTRY INVESTI(4ATIONS U. fi. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

width of the rings is uormally smallest in longleaf pine, being one-twenty-flfth of an inch and less. 
(See also tables and diagrams of rate of growth in the introduction, as well as in the several 
monographs.) 

The influence of orientation on the width of the rings is completely obscured by other, more 
potent influences, so that sometimes the radius on the north side, other times that of some other 
side, is the greatest ; and it is a common observation to see this relation vary within wide limits, 
even in the trunk of the same tree. 

Stunted trees of longleaf pine over one hundred years old with an average width of ring 
of one-flftieth of an inch are frequently met with in old timber; of the other species no such 
trees were observed. The decrease of the width of the rings from center to periphery is never 
perfectly uniform. Not only do consecutive rings differ within considerable limits, but frequently 
zones of narrower rings, including thirty or more years' growth, disturb the general regularity. 
Where these zones consist of very narrow rings, one-fiftieth of an inch or less, tie wood is of 
distinctly lighter color and weight. Since the value of this class of wood depends not only on its 
strength and stiffness but also on the fineness of its rings (grain), in so far as the grain influences 
both the appearance and the ease of shaping as well as other mechanical properties, the width of 
the annual ring is of great importance, from a technical point of view, the finer-ringed (grained) 
wood of the same weight always deserving and mostly receiving preference. 

The rings of the limbs are narrower than the corresponding rings of the stem. Moreover, 
they are usually of different widths on the upper and lower side of the same branch, those of the 
latter excelling in width those of the former. Frequently the wider lower part of a ring of a branch 
appears like a "lune" on the cross section, quite wide (one-eighth of an inch and more) in its lower 
median part, and scarcely visible, often entirely fading out on the upper side. This difference is 
commonly accentuated by the appearance of the wood itself. In the upper part the wood of the 
wing is normal and light colored, owing to a very small summerwood per cent; on the lower wide 
part, the " luue," the wood is commonly of reddish color, either even throughout the entire width 
of the ring, or else in several varicolored bands, which give the appearance of two or more separate 
ill-defined rings. Sometimes the earliest formed springwood is included in this unusual coloration, 
at other times only the median portion of the ring. This "red wood," as it has been termed by 
the French and German writers, is composed of very thick walled cells and increases markedly 
the weight of the wood, so that the wood of the side containing it is usually much the heaviest. 
It is of interest that the several "lunes" in any cross section occur rarely, if ever, exactly one 
above the other, but commonly the radius passing through the middle of one "lune" makes an 
angle of 20 to 40 degrees with the radius passing through the middle of another "lune." Often 
successive "lunes" show considerable deviation in position and commonly difi'er in width or degree 
of development. Accepting the most recent explanation of this phenomenon as expressed by 
Hartig and Cieslar,' it would appear that the formation of these broad "lunes" of especially 
strong cells is dne to pressure-stimulus on the growing cambium, caused by the weight of the limb 
and its peculiar position, increased at all times by movements of the limb due to the wind. More- 
over it seems that the formation of one well-developed "lune" relieves for a time the pressure, 
and with it the necessity for a repetition of this formation. These "lunes" are most conspicuous 
in the limbs of these pines near the trunk, and disappear at variable distances from the trunk and 
with them disappears the eccentricity and the difference in appearance and weight of the wood 
of the limbs. Immediately at the junction of limb and stem the pressure is constant, and the 
result is the formation of almost uniformly thick- walled tissue in all parts of the ring, giving to 
the "knot" its great weight and hardness. 

Lunes similar to those of the limb are frequently observed in the stems of small trees; 
wherever this has been noted it was found on the underside of a leaning or curved portion.^ 
Occasionally such a "lune" extends for 12 and more feet up and down. 

Quite distinct from this modification of the annual ring is another modification frequently seen, 
especially in young trees, giving rise to so called "false" rings. It consists in the appearance of 

'A. Cieslar, "Eotholz d. Fiohte," Centralblatt f. d. g. Forstwesen 1896, p. 149, and Robevt Hartig "Das Rothholz 
der Fichte" in Forstlich-naturwisseiischaftliche Zeitschrift, 1896, p. 165. 
' Cieslar produced them at will by bending young spruce saplings. 



WOOD OF SOUTHERN PINES. 



109 



one or more, rarely two, dark colored lines, which precede the true summerwood band of the ring. 
These lines, resembling the summerwood in color and composed like it of thiuk-walled cells, follow 
the true springwood of the year and are separated from the summerwood and from each other 
(if there are more than one) by a light-colored line resembling springwood. While occasionally 
this is somewhat misleading in counting the rings, a moderate magnification usually suffices to 
distinguish the real character of the tissues, as described later on. A more serious difSculty 
arises in very old, slowly growing trees, where the ring sometimes is represented by only one to 
three cells (see fig. 18) and occasionally disappears, i. e., is entirely wanting in some, parts of the 
cross section. Generally these cases, due to various causes, are too rare to seriously interfere in 
the establishment of the age of a tree. 



SPRING AND SUMMER WOOD. 



The difference between spring and summer wood is strongly marked in these pines, the 
transition from the former to the latter being normally abrupt and giving- to the annual ring 
the appearance of two sharply defined bands. (See figs. 17 and 22.) In wide rings the transition 



l^-LAST 50-4-2!iP 50 RINGS.- Jf- 
IRINGS OR 50 ' 

|yrs. growth.' I 

(SUMMER WOODJ SUMMER WOOD. I 
_22%. ! 30%. I 



350 50 RINGS. ^ 



-4IH 50 RINGS. ;^CENTRAL 28 RINGS.sl 



SUMMER WOOD. 
45/1. 



SUMMER WOOD. 
52%. 



SUMMER WOOD. 
46%. 




Fig. 17 — Variation of summerwood per cent from pith to bark. 

is sometimes gradual. The springwood is light colored, has a specific gravity of about 0.40, and 
thus weighs somewhat less than half as much as the darker summerwood, with a specific gravity of 
about 0.90 to 1.0.5, so that the weight and with it the strength of the wood is greater, the larger 
the amount of summerwood. (See figs. 17 and 19.) 

The absolute width of the summerwood varies generally with the width of the ring (see 
diagram, fig. 19), i. e., the wider the ring the wider the summerwood band. It decreases in a cross 
section of an old log from near the pith to the periphery, and in the same layer, from the stump 
to the top of the tree. Where the growth of the stem is very eccentric, the wood along the greater 
radius has the greatest proportion of summerwood; thus, in a disk of longleaf, for instance, there 
is on the north side a radius of 152 mm. with 27 per cent summerwood; on the south side a radius 
of 98 mm. and a summerwood per cent of only 20 per cent. In the stump section the great 
irrregularity in the contour of the rings is accompanied by a corresponding irregularity in the 
outline of the summerwood. 

The summerwood generally forms less than half of the total volume of the whole log (see fig. 
17); it forms a greater part of the coarse-grained wood which was grown while the tree was young 
than in the fine-ringed outer parts of the log, grown in the old age period. It also forms a greater 



110 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



part in the volume of the butt than of the top log, aud thus fully explains the well-known difference 
in the weight, strength, aud value of the various parts of the tree. The following table serves to 
illustrate this point. The numbers in each line refer to the average values for the same ten annual 
layers through three sections of the tree at varying height. The figures in italics below refer to 
specific gravity for the same layer. The values for specific gravity were calculated on the basis of 
allowing a specific gravity of 0.40 for springwood and 0.90 for sumraerwood, the values for the 
entire disks as actually observed being given below: 

Summerwood per cent and specific gravity in various parts of a tree of longleaf pine. 



Rings from periphery. 


1 

to 
10 


11 
to 

20 


21 
to 
30 


31 
to 
40 


41 
to 
50 


51 
to 
60 


61 
to 
70 


71 
to 

80 


81 
to 
90 

44 

.68 

35 

.57 

18 
.49 


91 
to 
100 


101 
10 
110 


111 
to 
120 


121 
130 


131 
to 
140 


141 
til 
150 


151 
to 
160 


161 
to 
170 


171 
to 
ISO 


181 
to 
190 


191 
to 
200 


201 
to 
210 


211 
to 
220 


221 
to 

230 


231 
to 
236 


Aver- 
age 
for 

total. 


Section 1, 3 feet from' ground. 
Section IV, 35 feet from 


39 
.59 

26 

.eg 

23 

.51 


44 

.sa 

24 

.s-n 

16 
4S 


40 
.IJO 

25 

17 
.48 


42 

.fii 

34 

.57 

18 
.49 


38 

.59 

28 
.54 

18 
.49 


35 

24- 

.5'J 

20 

..0 


45 

.C^ 

26 
.53 

IB 

.48 


32 
.56 

24 
.5H 

20 
.50 


66 

.7S 

49 
.64 

26 

.53 


43 

.61 

31 
.55 

21 

.50 


43 
.61 

33 
.56 

24 


52 
.66 

43 
.61 

19 


56 

.68 

34 

.57 

19 

.4!) 


48 
.64 

40 
.60 

.51 


46 

.6S 

31 

.55 

16 

.48 


48 
.64 

34 

.57 

18 

.4.0 


43 
.61 

33 

.56 

.42 


47 
.63 

33 

.56 


47 
.63 

3] 

.56 


52 
.66 

22 
.51 


45 
.6i' 

()6 
.43 


42 
.61 


al5 

.47 


45 

.625 


Section VII, 70 feet from 


.545 
















.490 



a Six rinsis next to pitli. 
ved values of .specific gravity for tlit 



; 0.700, 0.560, .intl 0.490, reaiiectively. 



It will be noticed that the greatest difference between the calculated and the actual value of 
specific gravity occurs in the section at the stump. This is fully accounted for by the fact that 
large amounts of resin, not considered iu the values of summerwood per cent, always occur in 
this portion, adding from 5 to 20 per cent to the weight of the wood. 






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Decades of Rings from, pei-iphery ■ 



Fig. 18— Variation of specific gravity Tvitli summerwood per cent and age of section in longleaf pine, tbe solid lines referring to a section 3 
feet from the ground, the dotted lines to one 14 feet from the ground. (Specific gravity as actually observed on pieces of 1 inch radi.l 
extent.) 

In stunted trees the summerwood forms nearly as great a per cent of the total volume for the 
whole tree as in thrifty trees of the same age, but in the stunted growth, or extremely narrow 
ringed portion of otherwise normal trees, the per cent of summerwood is markedly decreased, a 
.feature which becomes conspicuous iu the lighter color of the wood of such portions. (See diagram, 
fig. 213, A.) Where, on the other hand, the rate of growth iu an old tree is suddenly increased by 
the accessibility of more light, for instance, the summerwood per cent also is disproportionately 
increased, but this disproportion appears to be more transient, i. e., a decrease in the summerwood 
per cent sets in sooner than for the rate of growth or the width of the rings. (See fig. 10.) In 
some of the rapidly grown loblolly aud spruce pine the summerwood forms but a small part of the 



WOOD OF SOUTHERN PINES. 



Ill 



ficst teu to twenty years' growth, and in all cases the first few riugs about the pith have but little 
summerwood. In general, the summerwood per cent varies in the several species as well as in the 
individual with the weight of the wood, which is least in the spruce pine, greatest in Cuban and 
lougleaf pine, and stands between these in loblolly and shortleaf. It furnishes a very useful 
criterion to distinguish between these groups, and especially to select strong timber. 

In the limb, the summerwood is most abundant in the knot (all wood practically partaking of 
the character of summerwood, at least as far as the thickness of cell walls is concerned) and in the 























1 

1 


















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150 




















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1 


















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.^ 2 2 3 4 5 6 7 S 9 10 n 12 13 M 15 16 if 18 19 20 21 


Decades of Rings Trom periphery . 



Flo. 10.— Variatiou of summerwood jier cent mth rate of growth (width of ring) in tree No. 3, lougleaf pine. 
Note.— Only the heaxT^ line represents summerwood per cent; the others indicate the actual width of the rings (njipcr pair) and of the 
liand of summerwood (lower pair). 

part next to the stem, decreasing with the distance from the trunk. As might be expected, it also 
forms a larger per cent of the wood of the underside of limbs and the concave portions of bent 
trunks. 

(iRAIX OF THE WOOD. 

Though usually (piite straight grained, the wood of these species is by no means always so. 
Spiral growth, leading to " cross-grained " lumber, occurs frequently, is usually more pronounced 
in the basal portions of the tree, and commonly varies from pith to bark in the same log. Wavy 
grain resembling that of the maple (curly maple) has not been observed, but an irregular wavy 
grain, due to the fact that the surface of the trunk for many years is covered with small, low 
eminences, 1 to a few inches across, is frequently seen, especially in longleaf pine, and leads to 
remarkably pretty patterns. Unfortunately the contrast of spring and summer wood being so 
very pronounced, the figures are somewhat obtrusive and therefore not fully appreciated. 



112 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 



MINUTE ANATOMY. 

The minute structure or histology of the wood of the five species under consideration is that 
of a group whose position in a general classification of the wood of pines is indicated in the follow- 
ing scheme, suggested by Dr. J. Schroeder, and more completely by Dr. H. Mayr,' in which they 
appear as part of group 2 of Section I. 

Sfiction I. Walls of the tracheitis of the pith ray, with dentate projections. 

a. One to two large, simple pits to each tracheid on the radial walls of the cells of the pith ray. — Group 1. 

Represented in this country by F. resinosa. 
6. Three to sis simple pits to each tracheid on the walls of the cells of the pith ray. — Group 2. P. tccda, palustria, 
etc., including most of our " hard '' and " yellow " pines. 
Section II. Walls of tracheids of pith ray smooth, without dentate projections. 

a. One or two large pits to each tracheid on the radial walls of each cell of the pith ray. — Group 3. P. strobus 

lamhertiana, and other true white pines. 

b. Three to six small pits on the radial walls of each cell of the pith ray. — Group 4. P. parryana, and other nut 

pines, including also P. balfouriana. 

The general features of structure of coniferous woods are represented in the accompanying 
cut (flg. 20). 

The structural elements, as in all pine, are few and simple, and consist of (a.) tracheids, the 
common wood fibers, forming over 90 per cent of the volume; (&) medullary or pith rays, minute 





Fig. 20. — Schematic representation of coniferous wood struc. _P(Q^ 21 Cell eiidiuca in nine 

ture : wood of spruce — 1, natural size ; 2, small part of one 
ring magnitied 100 times. The vertical tubes are wood libers, 
in this case all "tracheids;" m.. medullary or pith ray; n, 
transverse tracheids of pith ray; a, &, and c, bordered pits 
of the tracheids more enlarged. 

cell aggregates composed of two kinds of cells, scarcely visible without magnifier and then only 
on the radial section, yet forming about 7 to 8 per cent of the volume and weight of the wood in 
these species; (c) resin ducts, small passages of irregular length surrounded by resin-secreting 
cells scattered through the wood, but forming two more or less connected systems, one running in 
the direction of the fibers, the other at right angles to the first, the individual ducts of the latter 
system always occupying the middle portion of medullary rays. 

The tracheids, or common wood fibers, are alike in all five species, and resemble those of other 
pines: they are slender tubes, 4.5 to 6 mm. (about one-fourth inch) long, forty to one hundred 
times as long as thick, usually hexagonal in cross section, with sharp or more or less rounded 
outlines (see PI. XX), flattened in tangential direction at both ends (see PI. XX, A/), the diameter 
in radial direction being 45 to 55 /< (about 0.002 inch) in the springwood, and about half that, or 
21 to 25 /A, in the summerwood, and in tangential direction about 40 /a, on the average in their 



'Dr. J. Schroeder, Holz der Coniferen, Dresden, 1872, p. 65; Dr. H. Mayr, Walduiigen von Nordamerika, Miin- 
chen, 1890, p. 426. 



WOOD OF SOUTHERN PINES. 



113 



middle. They are arranged in regular radial rows (see PI. XX), wliicli are continuous tlirougli an 
indefinite number of rings, but the number of rows increasing every year to accommodate the 
increasing circumference of the growing stem. (See PI. XX, c.) The fibers of the same row 
are practically conterminous, i. e., they all have about the same length, though at their ends they 
are often bent, slightly distorted, and usually separated (see PI. XX, B c; also fig. 21), their 
neighbors filling out the interspaces. There is no constant difference in the dimensions of these 
fibers in the different species here considered. In every tree the fibers are shortest and smallest 





EiG. 22 — Cro33 aection of normal and stanted growth in Longleaf Pine. 

near the pith of any section, rapidly increasing in size from the pith outward, and reaching their 
full size in about the tenth to twentieth ring from the pith. To illustrate: In a section of longleaf 
pine, 10 feet from the ground, the diameter of the tracheids in radial direction is in /<=0.001 mm,: 



Kumberof 

rings from 

center. 


Spring- 
wood. 


Summer- 
wood. 


Average. 




>* 


(J- 


IJ- 


1 


24 


15 


24 


2 


34 


23 


32 


3 


45 


24 


40 


4 


43 


26 


36 


7 


50 


26 


38 


10 


52 


28 


36 


24-33 


62 


28 


36 


44-53 


62 


27 


37 



H. Doc. 181- 



114 



PORESTEY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



As usual iu conifers, tlie traclieids are largest iu the roots aud smallest iu the limbs. In these, 
pines, especially in longleaf pine, they are larger in well-grown wood than in tliat of extremely 
stunted trees, though very narrow rings in otherwise normal trees do not share this diminutive size 
of the tracheids. (See fig. 22, A and B, where a few very narrow rings are made up of elements of 
normal size.) 

The following average figures illustrate the difference between wood from very stunted trees 
aud that of normal trees in longleaf pine, of which we give an average from an extensive series 
examined : 









Radial diam- 




Number of 
tree. 


Ago. 


Average 
width of ring. 


eter ot tra- 
cheids in 
apringwood 
/x = 0.001 mm. 


Character of 
tree. 


4 
5 
6 

7 


86 
6U 
70 
08 


Millimeters. 

0.4-0.6 

.4 

.4 

2.0 


31-36 

30-36 

33-38 

52 


Stunted. 

Do. 

Do. 
Xormal.- 



As soon as the average width of the annual rings gets above 0.5 mm. the dimensions of the 
elements approach the normal. Thus, in trees Nos. 1 and 2, with average width of annual rings 
0.5 to 0.6 mm., the average diameter of the tracheids in radial direction is 35 to 48 /a. 

ISTormally, the diameter in radial direction is greatest in the first-formed or inner part of any 
ring, and decreases even before the summerwood is reached. In narrow rings with an abrupt 
beginning of the summerwood, so common In these Southern pines, the diameter is quite constant 
throughout the springwood, but changes, together with the thickness of the wall, quite suddenly 
with the beginning of the summerwood, thus adding to the sharpness of the outlines of the two 
parts. (See PI. XX; also fig. 22, B.) In nearly all sections there is an additional marked decrease 
in radial diameter in the last 3 to 5 cells of each row, which helps to emphasize the limits of the 
ring. In the so-called "false" rings, mentioned before, the cells of the false summerwood part 
resemble those of the normal summerwood. The recognition of the false ring as such rests upon 
the difference in shape and dimensions of the last cell rows in comparison with those adjoining. 
In the true summerwood the last cells are much flattened, with small lumen and somewhat reduced 
walls making a sharp definition toward the springwood of the next ring, which is still further 
accentuated by the wide lumen and thin wall of the cells of the latter. In the "false" summer- 
wood, on the contrary, the end cells are not flattened, and the cells of the light- colored adjoining 
zone of wood have but a moderately wide lumen and comparatively thick walls. The fact that 
the outline is less regular and commonly incomplete — i. e., it does not extend around the entire 
section — also aids in recognizing the false rings. In the "lunes" of both limb and stem referred to 
above the fibers are smaller, more rounded in cross section, and commonly exhibit conspicuous 
intercellular spaces between them. The walls of these are often much thicker than those of the 
summerwood of the same ring at this point. Since the radial diameter of the fibers of the summer- 
wood is only about half as great as that of the springwood, it is clear that the number of fibers 
of the summerwood forms a much greater per cent of the total number of fibers than is indicated 
in the per cent of summerwood given above and based upon its relative width. Thus, in wood 
haviug 50 per cent of summerwood there are, iu number, twice as many tracheids in the summer- 
wood as in the springwood. 

The walls of the cells are generally about 3 to 3i /x thick in the springwood, while in the 
summerwood they are 6 to 7 /( thick on the tangential side and 8 to 11 j.i thick on the radial side 
of the fiber. Generally it may be said that the thickness varies inversely as the extent of the 
wall, i. e., the greater any diameter the thinner the walls parallel to this diameter, which gives 
the impression that each cell is furnished an equal quantum of material out of which to construct 
its house and had the tendency of giving an equal amount to each of its four or six sides. 

Generally the absolute width of the ring does not affect the thickness of the cell walls, the 
fibers of wide rings having no thicker walls than those of narrow rings; but when the growth of 
a tree is unusually suppressed, so that the rings are less than 0.5 mm. (0.02 inch) wide and each 
row consists of only a few fibers, the walls of the fibers of the summerwood, like those of the last- 




Typical Cross Sections of Pinus t/eda, heterophylla, and glabra. 

)•. d., resiD ducts; s. c, secreting cells; m. r., medullaiy rays; sp. w., spring wood; sii. ;c,,sumnieL- wood. 
4 Piws T.EDA ■ a-b. transverse traoheids; c, simple pits; rf-e, row of tracheids; /, flattened terminal of tracheid. 
'b Pinus heterophylla : a-b, row of tracheids; c, terminal of tracheid; d-e, bordered pits. 
c', Pinus glabra ; a-6, single row of tracheids; c-b, same row doubled. 



rt 




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^11^2^1^ 



TYPICAL CROSS SECTIONS OF PiNUS PALUSTRIS AND ECHINATA, AND RADIAL SECTIONS OF PiNUS PALUSTRIS AND GLABRA. 

4 cut thi-ough a row of parenchyma, the other through 



A, PiKUS ECBiNATA. Cross Section of two rings; sp. xo., Y'''Sy<^^^\^^■^-^^:^^^^^l°^]^ 

B, PiNL-s PALUSTRIS. Cross sectiou o£ a very narrow ring. Of the two medulLaiy lays one 

a row of tracheids. . i ,i„,.„ ..„„o. *,. trn^hoirls nf the medullary rays; p., parenchyma of the same; s. p, simple pits 

Cand D, PiNUS OLABRA. Radial sections; m. ^'-./n^dullary rays ft. tia^^^^ bordered pit. The ray at Cis made up of tracheids 

leading from the parenchyma to the neighbormg tracheids or common noeis, t.u.,uij, 

£, PiNus PALUSTRIS. Radial section; lettering a s in D loo ths rest ^sn 

Originals magnified; A, ^i". the rest '■{»; illustrations: A, 't , the rest ¥ . 





Radial Sections of Pinus echinata and heterophylla. 

, medullary rays; p. , parenchyma of same; tr., transverse traoheids of rays; s p., simple pits; b p., bordered 



A and B, Pincs echinata. m. r. 

pits; c. <r., common tracheids. 
C, Pinus heterophylla. .sit. w., summerwood; other letters as in A 
Originals magnified =;" ; illustrations, "i". 




Radial Sections of Pinus t/eda and tangential Sections of Pinus palustris and echinata. 



, mediillafy raj-s; fj-., tracheitis: p., parenchyma of the rayy 



, simple pit: b. p., bordered pit; c. ir., 



.4 and B, Pinus t.^da. Radial sections; , 

common tracbeids. 
C-E, tangential sections. 

C, Pinus PALUSTRIS. Left-hand part in spriugwood, right-band portion in summerwood. 
D-E, Pinus echinata. D, section in sprin^wood; a-c. medullary rays; a, a small ray composed of tracheids only; c, a '' triple ray; d, bordered pit 

showing the membrane in place. E. section in summerwood; a, bordered pit, other letters as in A and B. 
Magnification of originals, ^J"; of illustrations: .4 and B, -f"; C-E, ^J". 




Tangential Sections of Pinus t/eda, heterophylla, and glabra. 



A, PiNCS HKTEROPHYLLA. Radial and tangential sections of a transverse 
the medullary ray; p., parenehynia cells of the same' 

B-ff, PlNUS RLADRA. S ' '' -' ~ 

0-G, tangential o^v^wwuo ^^i ...^«v* — j .„^^, -,- . 

H, Pinus tjuda. Tangential sections of medullary rays m oprmg and summer wooa. 
Original magnified s;', illustrations about »?°. 



. medullary ray; tr., tracheids ot 



^ duct; r. rf, rdsin duct; vi. 

, common tracheids or wood fibers, 
st teugenSal'Son of* a trauTveiTeresTn duct and parts of three fibers; i. /;•; bf:??^<l P'';, °'^«'' ''^"'^'''^ ' 
d sections of medullary rays, ot which fi is made up of tracheids only, while £> is a triple i ay 



above; 




TANGENTIAL SECTIONS OP PiNUS ECHINATA, HETEROPHYLLA, AND GLABRA, SHOWING NUMBER ANO DISTRIBUTION OF 
TANGENTIAL SECTIONS OF ^^'^^''p^^^ ^^^^ ^^^ PROPORTION OF PiTH-RAY CELLS. 

ducts; m. r., y^edullaij rays^^ illustrations: A-C, »?=; D-F. ¥■ 

Magnifluatioa of originals: A-L, -,", u Ji, i . "■■ '"" 



Plate XXVI. 




TRANSVERSE RESIN DUCTS-TaNGENTIAL VIEWS. 



A-C Finds T«DA. D and E, P. palustris, 

M&FflcaTion^o™originaIs, a?o; of illustrations. 



J^, P. ECSINATA. G, P. HETEROPHYLLA. 



1 ducts; tr., transverse tracheids; 



WOOD OP SOUTHERN PINES. 115 

formed 2 or 3 fibers of normal rings, are thinner, so that in tbese cases tlie wood is lighter in color 
and weight not only because there is relatively less summerwood, but also because the fibers of 
this summerwood have thinner walls. (See fig. 22, A and B.) In very stunted trees, where the 
rings are all very narrow, the reduced thickness of the walls is counterbalanced by the smaller 
size of the cells. 

All tracheids communicate with each other by means of the characteristic "bordered" pits, 
the structure of which is shown in fig. 20. These pits occur only on the radial walls of the fibers. 
They are most abundant near the ends of each fiber, fewest in the middle, form broken rows, 
single or occasionally double. (PI. XXII, 0.) As in other pines the pits of the summerwood differ 
in appearance from those of the springwood. In the latter the i)it appears in the cell lumen 
(radial view) as a perforated saucer-like eminence; in the former as a mere cleft, elongated in the 
direction of the longer axis of the fiber. (See PI. XX, B, d and e; PI. XXIII, D, d and E, a.) In 
both the essential part of the pit Is similar, a circular or oval cavity resembling a double convex 
lens, with a thin membrane dividiug it into two equal planoconvex parts. (This membrane is 
shown only in the drawings, PI. XXIII, D, and E.) In keeping with the small radial diameter of 
the fibers of the summerwood, these pits are much smaller in the siimmerwood than springwood, 
and usually are very much fewer in number. 

The simple pits are in sets and occur only at the points where the fiber touches the cells of a 
medullary ray. (See fig. 21, also PI. X'XIII, E, sp., and other figures of this plate and PI. XXIV.) 
Above and below these simple pits occur very small bordered pits, communicating with those of 
the short tranverse fibers or tracheids which form part of all medullary rays. (See PI. XXI, 
I),b.p.) 

As in all pines, the medullary or pith rays are of two kinds, the one small, 1 cell wide, and 1 
to 10 — in large averages 5 to 7 — cells high; the other large, and each containing in the middle part 
a transverse resin duct. (See Pis. XXI, XXIII, XXIV, and XXVI.) Of the former there occur 
about 21 to 27 on each square millimeter (about 15,000 per square inch) of tangential section. The 
second class are much less abundant and scattered very irregularly, so that sometiuies areas of 
several square millimeters are found without any of these rays. Generally abox;t one of these 
rays occurs to every 1.5 or 2 square millimeters, or about 300 to 400 per square jnch of tangential 
section. In all rays the cell rows forming the upper and lower edge (see PI. XXI) are composed 
of short fibers or tracheids (transverse tracheids), while the inner rows contain only parenchyma 
cells. Occasionally small rays occur which are composed of tracheids only. (See PI. XXI, 0.) 
Frequently the rows of parenchyma are separated by one, rarely by two, series of tracheids (see 
PI. XXIII, D, and PI. XXIV, D), giving rise to "double" or "triple" rays. 

The number of cell rows in each medullary or pith ray varies from 2 to 10, on an average from 
5 to 7, and of these the rows of tracheids or fibers form more than half. (See PI. XXV, where 
the outer cells or tracheids are marked with dots.) 

The tracheids of the rays have thick walls covered with point-and-bar-like projections, the 
boldest of which are on the upper and lower walls and surround the bordered pits. (See Pis. 
XXI and XXII.) These short tracheids communicate with the common wood fibers, with each 
other, as well as with the parenchyma cells, by means of small bordered pits, which in this last 
case are bordered on one side (side of the tracheid) and simple on the other (half-bordered pits). 
The parenchyma cells occupying the inner rows of each ray communicate in the springwood part 
of the ring with each neighboring tracheid by 3 to-6, commonly 4 to 5, simj)le elliptical pits, in 
the summerwood by a single narrow, elongated slit-like pit (see Pis. XXI and XXII), and with 
each other by small, irregular, scattered simple pits. 

The walls of these cells are generally smooth, but local thickenings, especially on the upper 
and lower walls, and surrounding the pits, occur quite frequently, though not regularly. 

The parenchyma cells of the rays are usually somewhat broader and higher than the fibers^ 
the average height for both being about 21 to 27 ^, the average width about 20 /(, while the length 
of each cell and fiber, greater in springwood and least in the summerwood, is from two to ten times 
as great as the height. Assuming 25 ju and 20 jj. to represent the average height and width, and 
allowing 25 rays of G cell rows each to each square millimeter of tangential section, then the rays 
form about 7,5 per cent of the total volume and weight of the wood of these species. An attempt 



116 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 

to utilize for purposes of identification the difference in the number, size, and distribution of tliese 
rays, or the proportion between tlie number of rows of tracheids and those of parenchyma cells, 
as was done by Dr. J. Sehroeder,' has not been successful, and appears of little promise. 

The large rays with transverse resin ducts resemble the smaller rays described. On PI. XXIV 
at A such a ray is seen both in radial and tangential section. Series of transverse tracheids 
occupy the upper and lower edge, but the interior, unlike that of common rays, is several 
cells wide, and contains an open duct in its widest portion. (See PI. XXIV, r. d.) This duct is 
commonly more or less filled with resin (see PI. XXIV, E) ; it is surrounded by thin-walled secreting 
cells, and, in the heart wood, often divided or filled up by thylosis, i. e., by very thin walled, 
much puffed out cells, growing out of the surrounding secreting cells before the latter perish. 

The walls of the secreting cells are quite thin, those of the remainder of the parenchyma 
vary to some extent in the different sx)ecies. In the longleaf and loblolly pines the walls of the 
parenchyma composing the i)riucipal part of the ray are generally quite thick (see PI. XXIV, A-E), 
thicker than those of the cells of ordinary rays, and especially thickened near the simple pits by 
which these cells communicate with each other. In Cuban and shortleaf this thickening is much 
less conspicuous, and absent entirely in many cases (see PI. XXIV, A), while in the spruce pine it 
seems wanting altogether. 

These ducts exist even in the very first ring (next to the pith), are smaller and more numerous 
near center, but have essentially the same structure iu the wood of the fifth and later years. 

The tracheids of the pith rays are wanting next to the pith, but occur in all rays in the outer 
part of even the first ring. The rays in this ring are generally lower, composed of fewer cell rows, 
but the cells are larger than the rest of the wood. 

Both shape and size of these medullary rays are very variable; an average of about 0.4 mm. 
for the height of the ray and 60 ju for the width at the resin duct was observed. An attempt lo 
utilize the shape, especially the appearance of the two edges, as a means of separating the wood 
of these species has so far failed entirely. 

The large resin ducts running lengthwise in the wood or parallel to the common wood fibers 
are much larger than the transverse ducts, measuring, inclusive of the secretive cells, on an 
average about 0.2 mm. (0.008 inch) on their smaller radial diameter and about 0.3 mm. on the 
tangential. (See PI. XX, A, r. d.) They are usually situated in the summerwood of each ring, 
often in narrow rings, causing an irregular outline. They are smaller and more numerous near 
the pith, here usually forming several series in one annual ring, more numerous in wide rings 
than in narrow ones, but their number per square inch of cross section as well as their dimensions 
appear to be independent of the width of the rings. In their structure they resemble those of 
other pines. They are surrounded by thin-walled resin-secreting parenchyma, part of which often 
appears as if not directly connected with the duct. (See PI. XX, A.) In many cases all the 
tissue between two neighboring ducts is of this parenchyma. Longitudinal and transverse ducts 
frequently meet and thus form a continuous network of ducts throughout the wood. 

ECONOMIC ASPECTS OP FOREST RESOURCES. 

One thousand million dollars is the value of the raw products which are annually derived 
from the forests of the United States. 

There is no other resource, there is no other business or trade which approaches iu magnitude 
or importance, in production of values or in the intimate relation to all pursuits of life that which 
is based upon the exj)loitation of our forest resources, excepting alone agriculture and its adjuncts. 

Professor James, in Bulletin 2 of the Division of Forestry, figured upon the basis of the 
census for 1880 as follows: 

If to the value of the total output of all our veins of gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, iron, and coal, were added 
the value derived from the petroleum ■wells and stone quarries, and this sura were increased hy the estimated value 
of all the steamboats, sailing vessels, canal boats, flatboats, and barges, plying in American waters and belonging 
to citizens of the United States, it would still be less than the value of the forest crop by a sum suf6cient to 
purchase at cost of construction all the canals, buy at par all the stock of the telegraph companies, pay their 
bonded debts, and construct and equip all telephone lines in the United States. 

' Dr. Julius Sehroeder, das Holz der Coniferen, Dresden, 1872. 



ECONOMIC ASPECTS. 



117 



Even if, instead of the value of the wood article, ready for marketing, we refer only to the 
stuQipage, i. e., the royalty which the wood consumer pays to the laud owner for the privilege of 
taking the valuable material from the land, we will find it ten times as large as the royalties paid 
for coal, and twenty-flve times as large as those paid for iron ore. IsTay, even compared with farm 
rents, the stumpage value of an acre of forest exceeds its farm value. 

We can then assert that next to the soil and climate itself, the basis for agricultural produc- 
tion, our forest resources are the most important at the present time as iiroducers of the most 
needful materials of our civilization. Nay, if we realize that in addition the forest cover as a mere 
surface condition of the earth affects our local climate, and, still more, acts favorably upon the 
distribution of our water supplies — the most essential factor in agricultui-al production — we can not 
easily overrate its value, either as a factor of production or as an element of protection; its prod- 
uct and its protection are as much necessaries of life as air and water. 

It has furthermore this advantage over all other resources, that by the mere manner of exploi- 
tation, without much human labor, it can be reproduced; it is a restorable resource which can be 
utilized without deteriorating or exhausting it, provided the exploitation be carried on rationally 
and with due regard to the laws of tree growth. 

The truth of the assertion that the forest, next to agricultural resources, furnishes a larger 
product than any other resource, and that the industries relying on wood supplies employ more 
capital and labor and produce more values in their product than any one other industry or group 
of like industries, will appear from the following statement: 

Leading industries compared. 
[Data irom Censas 1890, in round numbers.] 



Agriculture 

Forest products, total 

Forest industries, enumerated 

Forest products, not enumerated (estimated) . 

Manufactures usingwood 

Total wood aud wood manufactures 

Mineral products, total 

Coal 

Gold and silver .' 

Pig-iron industry 

Iron and steel manufact ures 

Leather 

Leather manufactures 

Wooleu mau ufactures 

Cotton manufactures 



Millions. 
$15, 982 



Millions. 
$2, 460 
1, OM 



From this table it appears that agriculture, standing first in capital, persons employed, aud 
value of products, the industries relying upon forest products stand easily second, exceeding in the 
value of products the mining industries by more than 50 per cent. The industries relying directly 
or indirectly on forest products employ readily more than one million workers (enumeration being 
imperfect), producing nearly two billion dollars of value. The manufactures relying on wood 
wholly or in part more than double the value of the lumber or wood used, giving employment to 
more than half a million men and about equaling the combined manufactures of all woolen, cotton, 
and leather goods in persons employed, wages paid, and values produced. 

Census statistics of the employment of capital, persons employed, and wages paid in the 
minor forest industries are absent. The fact that many people are only temporarily or incidentally 
and for a part of the year engaged in the exploitation of the forest would make such enumeration 
well-nigh impossible. Besides the lumber industry and such kinds of exploitation as can be, at 
least, approximately enumerated — always remaining below the truth — a large number of industries 
and manufactures rely upon wood as the principal material, others employing it to a greater or 
less extent. An attempt has been made to classify these according to the estimated percentage of 
wood entering into their products and assuming that capital, labor, and value of products add the 
same proportion to the total as the raw materials used, and these figures have been employed in 
the preceding table. As a matter of fact, there is probably more labor employed in shaping wood 
than this percentage would indicate. 



118 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 
Forest industries and manufactures using wood. 



Articles. 


Capital. 


Employees. 


"Wages. 


Haw mate- 
rial. 


Value of 
product. 


Forest industries emiiuerated: 


Thousands. 

$496. 340 

61,541 

4,063 


Hundreds. 

2,862 

401 

153 


Thousands. 

$87, 784 

11, 354 

2,933 


Thousands. 

.$231, 556 

11,007 

3,506 


Thousands. 
$403, 668 




34, 290 




8,077 






Total 


561,943 


3,477 


102,071 


245, 169 


446, 034 


Manufactures practically all -wood : 


3,374 

13, 018 

13, 028 

81, 543 

17,817 

66, 394 

1,300 

908 

120,271 

1,941 

7,820 

2,712 

7,455 

333 


65 

140 

109 

1,409 

247 

639 

18 

8 

869 

38 

84 

31 

28 

3 


2,134 

6,477 

5.208 

9J,524 

11, 655 

34. 471 

772 

572 

48, 970 

344 

4,267 

1, 237 

1, 229 

155 


3,567 

14, 245 

1,388 

137, 847 

2,637 

38, 796 

1,187 

331 

104, 927 

935 

3,947 

1,499 

2,005 

214 


7,092 




25, 513 




16, 262 


O rnp^tpi^nfr " 


281, 195 




38, 618 




94, 871 




2,402 




1,239 




183, 682 




2,194 




10, 940 




3,598 




4,628 




512 








337, 908 


3,650 


212, 027 


331, 523 


672, 750 






materials : a 

Total . 


169, 983 
89?991 


1,.356 
687 


714, 460 
35, 730 


] 14, 383 
57, 192 


229, 408 




114, 704 






materials: 6 


321, 059 
107, 619 


2,143 
714 


123,588 
41,196 


148, 578 
49, 520 


318, 218 




106, 072 


1 & 




materials ; c 


76, 841 
7,684 


915 
92 


46, 854 
4, 685 


49,291 
4,929 

443, 170 


131, 820 




13, 182 








543, 402 


5, 134 


293, 638 


906, 708 







a Includes carriages and wagon-factory product, children's carriages and sleds, steam and street cars, coflins and burial caslcets, chairs, 
■whcelbarrnwR, .sewing-machine cases, artiiicial limbs, refrigerators, and shipbuilding. 

& Includes aLTicuitural implements, billiard tables, r.iilroad and street car repairs, furniture repairs, w.isliing machines .and wringers, 
and organs and ]ji:iiios. 

c Includes blaclisuiitliiug and wheelwrighting, bridges, brooms and brushes, gunpowder, artists' materi.lls, windmills, toys and games, 
sporting goods, lead pencils, pipes, and pumps. 

The most valuable part of the forest growth, that -which it took the longest time to grow, is, 
of course, that which is cat into lumber. The lumber and sawmill business of the ITnited States 
has no equal in the world in extent or in efficiency. From being hardly developed fifty years ago 
beyond local importance, this bu.siaess, through the develoi^raent of the means of transportation 
as well as of the country to the west, has rapidly advanced to enormous pnjportious. 

The extent and distribution of the sawmill business through the States is, perhaps, best illus- 
trated by the following statement of the number of the various classes of mills and their daily 
capacity as computed from the Directory of the Northwestern Lumberman: 

Number of mills, lof/giug railroads, and daily capacitij of mills. 
[Computed from data publislied in Korthwestem Lnmberman, 1892.] 





Sawmills. 


a 

a 




1 


Daily sawmill capacity. 


Daily sbingle-mill 
capacity. 


United States. 


t 




Lowest. 


Highest. 


Lowest. 


Highest. 




355 
270 
282 
10 
56 
349 


6 
7 

20 
2 
7 

20 


292 
158 

78 
6 

22 
129 


61 
40 
16 


3 

i 


Feet B. M. 
4, 686, 000 
2, 530, 000 
1, 452, Olio 
48, 000 
342, 000 
2,851,000 


Feet B. M. 
8, 730, 000 

4, 720. 000 
3, 095, 000 

100, 000 
710, 000 

5, 525, OOO 


JVtH/l&er. 
3,208,000 
972, 000 
390, 000 
42, 000 
114, 000 
716, 000 


Xumber. 




1, 860, 000 






75] 000 




1 

10 


1 




1,515,000 








1,322 


62 


685 


128 


5 


12, 909, 000 


22, 880, 000 


5, 442, 000 










738 
887 
73 
46 
39 


42 
96 
3 
4 
6 


255 

266 

11 

2 

5 


44 
39 


10 
92. 


0, 670, 000 

14, 597, 000 

174, 000 

252, 000 

470, 000 


12, 680, 000 

27,190,000 

540, 000 

535, 000 

900, 000 


2, 266, 000 

2, 814, 000 

36, OUO 








NewJersev 




Delaware.: 


5 
1 


2 






12, 000 










1,785 


151 


539 


89 


104 


22, 163, 000 


41, 845, 000 


5,128,000 


10, 085, 000 





a Shingles may be averaged 5,000 to the 1,000 feet B. M, 



SAW MILLS. 



119 



Number of mills, logging railroads, and daily capavUy o/miHs— Continued. 





Sawmills. 


"a 




» 1 
1 
g 


Daily sawmill capacity. 


Daily sliiuKie-mill 
capacity. 


United States. 


1 
■ji 


St 


to 


Lowest. 


Highest. 


Lowest. 


Higlieat. 




100 
140 
70 
144 


68 
21 
16 
17 


31 
26 
9 
67 


8 
2 
2 
17 


29 
34 
21 
44 


Feet £. M. 

1, 602, 000 

1, 932, 000 

840, 000 

3, 086, 000 


Feet B. M. 
3.260,000 
3, 605, 000 
1,580,000 
5, 495, 000 


Nutnhcr. 
168, 000 
162, 000 
369, 000 
816, 000 


Number. 

330, 000 

355, 000 

476, 000 

1, 470, 000 








Soutliern Atlantic States 


454 

123 
141 
152 
106 


112 
325 


123 
1,347 


29 
246 


128 


7, 460, 000 


13, 940, 000 


1, 515, 000 1 
12,086,000 1 


2, 630, 000 




237 


42, 632, 000 


78, 665, 000 


23, 430, 000 




13 
13 
13 
3 


is" 

20 
18 
29 


4 
6 
2 

1 


20 
36 
34 
15 


2, 036, 000 
2,514,000 
2, 740, 000 
1, 926, 000 


3, 665, 000 

4, 505, 000 
6, 016, 000 
3,405,000 


890, 000 

812, 000 

282, 000 

1, 636, 000 


1, 675, 000 

1, 665, OOO 
506, 000 

2, 945, 000 








Gulf States 


522 


55 


115 


13 


106 


9,216,000 


16, 590, 000 


3, 620, 000 1 


6,680,000 




150 

847 
477 
103 


2 

52 
32 

2 


30 

265 
67 


101 
26 
2 


61 

79 
20 
2 


3, 602, 000 


6, 370, OOC 


800, 000 j 1, 525, 000 




21, 630, 000 
14, 724, 000 
4, 182, 000 


42, 046, 000 
27, 586, 000 
8, 965, 000 


12,356,000 
8, 700, 000 
2, 700, 000 


25,680,000 
15, 865, 000 
4, 740, 000 






Northern lumbering States 


1,427 


86 


723 


129 


101 
9 

i 


40, 536, 000 

3, 850, 000 
4, 192, 000 
1, 158, 000 


78,596,000 


23, 762, 000 1 46, 285, 000 




576 
649 
109 


78 
68 
41 


30 
32 
9 


82 
51 
9 


7, 820, 000 
8, 130, 000 
2, 770, 000 


162, 000 
300, 000 
264, 000 


310, 000 
640, 000 
445, 000 




Illinois 


Northern asrieultural States 


1,234 
~2^661 


187 


71 


142 


10 


9,206,000 


18,720,000 


726, 000 1, 295, 000 


Lalce States 


273 


794 


271 


111 


49, 472, 000 


94, 315, 000 


24,488,000 1 47,580,000 




136 

218 
332 

284 
184 


93 

117 
111 
33 
41 


14 
34 
29 
56 
15 


33 

37 

32 

27 

■ 9 


40 
10 
20 
45 
10 


1,425,000 
3, 146, 000 

4, 018, 000 

5, 030, 000 
2, 016, 000 


2, 596, 000 
6, 970, 000 
7, 695, 000 
9, 615, 000 

3, 820, 000 


770, 000 
306, 000 
ISO, 000 
1, 074, 000 
214, 000 


1, 490, OOO 
690, 000 
360, 000 

1, 920, OOO 
365, 000 




n, •' 






Central States 


1,154 


395 


148 


138 


125 


15,636,000 


39, 695, 000 


2, 544, 000 


4, 715, 000 


Towa 


42 
1 

18 
4 


6 


19 


2 




1,400,000 


3, 655. 000 


900, 000 


1,786,000 


North Dakota 


1 


14 






186, 000 
12, 000 


360, 000 
25, 000 


186, 000 


365, 000 


Nebraska 

Kausas 














Prairie States 


65 


7 


33 


2 




1, 598, 000 


■4, 040, 000 


1, 086, 000 
3, 630, 000 


2, 150, 000 




1,219 


102 


"" isT 


140 


125 


17, 233, 000 


33, 735, UOO 


• 6, 865, 000 




24 
10 
34 
15 

17 


3 

ii 

1 


11 
7 

29 
8 
1 




1 


438, 000 
60, 000 
420, 000 
222, 000 
ISO, 000 


1, OOO, 000 
110, 000 
820, 000 
405, 000 
350, 000 


162, 000 
96, 000 
318, 000 
108, 000 
12, 000 


310, 000 
170,000 
620, 000 
210, 000 




W.\0UlIUj3 . 










3 






Eastern HockyMountiaii region 


100 


20 


56 




4 


1, 320, 000 


2, 685, 000 


696, 000 

160, 000 
24, 000 
48, 000 
24, 000 


1, 335, 000 




3? 
6 
31 
10 


9 

5 

1 


20 
2 

g 

2 






306, 000 
212, 000 
182, 000 
146, 000 


680, 000 
380, 000 
285, 000 
310, 000 


315, 000 
50, 000 






i 


T't >i 


50, (100 


Ari zona 




1 




84 


15 


33 




2 


766, 000 


1, 555, 000 


246, 000 


510, 000 


Kooky Mountain region 


184 


36 


89 


Z7~ 


'. 6 


2, 086, 000 


4, 240, 000 

6, 105, 000 

5, 225, 000 
5, 500, 000 


942, 000 

2, 20,3, 000 

380. 000 

2, 114, 000 


1, 886, 000 




159 
184 
178 


3 
7 
16 


64 
25 
83 


2 


33 
11 

28 


3, 446, 000 
2,122,000 
2, 860, 000 


4,010,000 




3, 645, 000 


"Washington - 




521 


26 


172 


2 


72 


9, 018, 000 


16, 830, 000 


4, 696, 000 


8, 370, 000 


Total 


8, 818 


1,118 


2,728 


672 


717 


133, 159, 000 


250, 745, 000 


40, 251, 000 


96, 295, 000 



a Sliingles may 1)6 averaged 6,000 to the 1,000 feet B. M. 

This sawmill capacity, of between 140,000,000 aiid 270,000,000 feet B. M. daily, which for our 
purposes can be considered practically the same to-day, would indicate a* ^^^^ very lowest an 
annual product of about 35,000,000,000 feet B. M., requiring in round numbers 5,000,000,000 at least 
cubic feet of forest-grown material. 



120 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 



Besides these mills, such other establishments of woodworking industries as use wood 
directly from the forest iu log or bolt size, like the wood-pulp industry, the cooperage industry, 
etc., and the requirements of our railroads for ties, bring the total cut surely to 5,500,000,000 
cubic feet of wood of superior quality, to furnish which continuously at least 350,000,000 acres 
must be kept under eflBcient forest management, as may be figured by inspecting the record of 
experience in Germany in another part of this report. 

This total annual cut, including all material requiring bolt or log size, is estimated at 
40,000,000,000 feet B. M. It is made up of the following kinds: 

FEET E. JI. 

WMtepine '12,000,000,000 

Spruce aud fir - 5,000,000,000 

Hemlock - - 4,000,000,000 

Longleaf pine ., 4,000,000,000 

Sliortleaf and loblolly --- 3,000,000,000 

Cypress 500,000,000 

Redwood 500,000,000 

All other conifers - 1,000,000,000 



Total conifers ■_ 30,000,000,000 



Oak 3,000,000,000 

All other hard woods 7,000,000,000 



Total ■- 40,000,000,000 

In this cut the various regions participate in the following proportions : 

FEET B. M. 

New England and North Atlantic States 6,000,000,000 

Central States 5,000,000,000 

Lake Region »13, 000, 000, 000 

Southern States 13,000,000,000 

Pacific States ' 4,000,000,000 

Miscellaneous : 2,000,000,000 

If we add other materials furnished by the forest supplementing by estimates the data 
furnished by the census of 1890, we come to the following statement of our total annual wood 
consumiJtion : 



Amount and value of forest 2)roducts used during the cetisus year . 



Classea of products. 


Quantity. 


Estimated cubic 
contents of forest- 
grown m aterial. a 


Value. 


I. Mill products : 6 

Agricultural implement stock 

Bobbin and spool stock - 

Carriage and wagon stock 


feet.B.M.. 

do.... 

do.... 

do.... 

do.... 

.do.... 


30, 000, 000 
49, 000, 000 
66, 000, 000 
94, 000, 000 
27, 630, 000, 000 


Cubic feet. 


$582, 000 












1, 435, 000 


All thfiv snwRfl 1 hfi-p 

.iu ot e sawe iumDer ... 












Total sawed lumber 


27, 869. 000. OCO 
2, 365, 000, 000 

110,000,000 
9, 276, 000, 000 
1, 178, 000, 000 

183, 000, 000 


4, 000, 000, 000 


314,829,000 
3, 709, 924 


Pickets and palings 

Shingles . 


do.... 

do.... 




750, 000 


200, 000, 000 
300, 000, 000 
175, 000, 000 


17, 000. 000 




do.... 


7, 762, 000 






4, 934, 000 












4, 675, 000, 000 


348, 984, 924 










II. Eailroad construction: 


80, 000, 000 


400, 000, 000 
80, 000, 000 
5, 000, 000 






















a?otal 




485, 000, 000 


40. 000, 000 



a Estimated by the Division of Forestry. 

b Tbese data have been compiled by Mr. Priest from the reports of 21,011 establishments (representing probably 70 per cent in number 
and 95 per cent in value of product), of which 18,06i manufactured sawed lumber as principal product, 702 manufactured shingles exclu- 
sively, 438 manufactured staves and headings exclusively, and 1,807 used logs or bolts in the manufacture of the various classes of products 
stated under the head of "Miscellaneous," and corrected by the inclusion of the quantities used for customs sawing not given in the census 
figures. 

c Canvass of Division of Forestry. 



* This figure is by this time (1899) greatly reduced ( 
increase in other materials, especially Southern pine. 



account of the waning supply of "White Pine, the deficiency being made up by 



WOOD CONSUMPTION. 



121 



Amount and value of forest products used during the census year 1S90 — Contmued. 



Classes of products. 



Estimated cubic 
contents of forest- 
grownmaterial, a 



III. Exported timber not included in Subdi\'isi( 

Hewn timber, 6,900, 000 cubic feet 

Logs and round timber 

Hived staves, stave and bolts 



Total 



rv". Wood pulp : (t 

300,000 tons ground paper pulp 

80,000 tons soda pulp 

60,000 tons sulphite pulp fiber 

50,000 tons pulp foe otber purposes 

V. Miscellaneous mill products otber than lumber manufactured directly fr 
bolts e 



Total materials requiring bolt or log size . 



This last figure of " miscellaneous products " is a very considerable underestimate, based 
upon census returns, and we are entirely safe in rounding otf tlie total of sizable 
timber used and its value to ■ 

"VI. I'uelin the shape of woodrf ■ 

In the shape of charcoal 

Til. Wood used for dyeing extracts and' charcoal for gunpowder c 



Total amount and value of wood consumption . 



YIII. lN"aval stores : c 

Tarpentine barrels. 

Hosin do... 

IX.e Wood alcohol gallons. 

Acetic acid in acetate of lime 



, Tanning materials : c 

Hemlock bark cords. 

Oak bark do--- 

Hemlock and bark for extract do.. - 

Sumac leaves for tanning tons . 

Sumac leaves for extract do. . . 

Various, not accounted for 



XI. Maple sugar pounds e 

Maple sirup gallons e 



Total value of forest by .products . 



Total value of all forest products 

Add 10 per cent for omissions and underestimates a ■ 



Total value of wood and forest products at original place of production, estimated 
to have been used during census year 1890 



CuMc Je&t. 

9, 000, 000 $1, 231 

2, 500, 000 2, 000, 000 

600, 000 1, 500, 000 



12, 000, 000 



75, 000, 000 
80, 000, 000 



, 327, 000, 000 



5,500,000,000 

18, 000, 000, 000 

250. 000, 000 

16, 200, 000 



1, 056, 000 

322, 150 

64, 200 

3,300 

3,750 



32, 952, 927 
2, 258, 376 



6, 925, 000 

2, 783, 500 

307, 500 



i, 730, 000 



3, 550, 000 
20, 765, 000 



418, 029, 924 



450, 000, 000 

450, 000, 000 

7, 000, 000 

437, 000 



Total value. 



$7, 872, 872 
2, 110, 000 



a Estimated by the Division of Forestry. 

fcErom returns of Bureau of Statistics, TJ. S. Treasury Department. 

c Based on figures of the Eleventh Census. 

d Based on figures of the Tenth Census and canvass of Division of Forestry. 

Making allowance for the increase in business and values aud rounding ofit" the values given 
for 1890, we may estimate the present conditions about as follows: 

Mill products, lumber, shingles, implement and furniture stock, etc $150, 000, 000 

Eailroad construction 

Export timber 

AVood pulp 

Miscellaneous bolt sizes 

Total materials requiring log 



45, 000, 000 

5,000,000 

5,000,000 

50, 000, 000 

: and bolt sizes -' 555, 000, 000 

Fuel and fencing 450,000,000 

7, 000, 000 
500, 000 

8, 500, 000 
2, 500, 000 

15, 000, 000 
5, 500, 000 



Charcoal 

Dyewood and gunpowder 

Naval stores 

Wood alcohol and acetic acid 

Tanning material 

Maple sirup and sugar 

Grand total 1,044,000,000 

It should, of course, be understood that all such figures are mere approximations to the truth 
based upon careful consideration of the partial information obtainable for the single items. 

In comparison with these enormous amounts and values expressing home consumption and 
home production, the amounts of imports and exports become quite insignificant. 

The imports of wood aud other forest materials amount to between twenty and thirty million 



122 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 



dollars annually, about 25 per cent of which consists of materials which do not grow on this 
continent. The balance comes mainly from Canada. 

The exports of forest products and partly manufactured wood materials varied until two 
years ago between twenty-five and thirty million dollars, with twelve to fifteen million more of 
manufactures in which wood plays an important part. 

To be sure, there are constant increases in exports as well as imports, but the amounts as stated 
are small in comparison, with home ijroduction and consumption remaining generally below the 
tliirty-million-dollar mark, and a little above or below 3 per cent of all exports, as appears from 
the following table, which shows the value of exports of forest products, crude, or only slightly 
enhanced in value by manufacture : 

Vahte of exports of forest products, 1860-1S97. 



Year. 


Value. 


Total ex- 
ports of 
(loniestic 

products. 


Tear. 


Value. 


Total ex- 
ports of 
domestic 
products. 


Year. 


Value. 


Total ex- 
ports of 
domestic 

products. 




$10, 299, 959 
14, 897, 963 
19, 165, 907 

18, 076. 668 

19, 943, 290 
17, 750, 396 
16, 336, 943 
17,321,268 
19, 486, 051 


Per cent. 
3.26 
3.27 
3.43 
3.04 
3.14 
2.55 
2.34 
2.11 
2.20 


1882 


$26, 580, 264 
28, 636, 199 
26, 222, 959 
22, 014, 839 
20,961,708 
21, 126, 273 
23, 991, 092 
26, 997, 127 
29, 473, 084 


Per cent. 
3.50 
3.56 
3.62 
3.03 
3.15 
3.01 
3.51 
3.70 
3.49 


1891 


$28, 715, 713 

27, 957, 423 
28, 127, 113 

28, 000, 629 
28, 576, 235 
33, 718, 204 

. 40,489,321 


Per cent. 
3.29 




1883 


1892 


2.75 








3.38 




1885 


1894 


3.22 




1886 


1895 


3.61 






1896 


3.91 




1888 


1897 


3.92 




' 1889 








1890 











To get an idea of the character of the materials exported, whether raw or manufactured, and 
the approximate territorial distribution of the same, the following table is reproduced from the 
report of the Division of Forestry for 1893. It shows that the Southern States furnish the largest 
amount of raw material exports in value, while the Northern States furnish the bulk of the manu- 
factured articles. To be sure, for this tabulation only the freights at ports could be utilized which 
do not allow a very close territorial distribution of the lilace of production. 

Exports of wood and cerlain ^vood products durinff the year ending June SO, 189^, hy districts of country whence crported. 



Eaw materials : 

Boards, deals, planks, etc 

Joists and scautliug 

Hoops and hoop poles 

Laths 

Paliufis and pickets 

Shingles __ 

, Shocks 

Staves 

All other lumher 

Timher (sawed) 

Timber (hewn) 

Logs and other round timber . 

ITirewood 

Kosiu 

Tar 

Turpentine and pitch 

Spirits of turpentine 

Bark and bark extract 

Total raw materials 

Manufactures : 

Agricultural implements 

Carriages and horse cars 

Cars, passenger and freight — 

Matches 

Organs 

Doors, sash, and blinds 

Moldings, trimmings, etc 

Hogsheads and barrels, empty. 

Household furniture 

Wooden ware 

All other wood manufactures- . 

Total manufactures 

Total exports 



2,337 
76 

5,841 
691,867 
946, 210 
657, 304 

37, 235 
242, 770 
875, 371 

1,604 
652, 777 

38, 534 
16, 966 

445, 249 
84, 268 



Dollars. 

2, 220, 327 

157, 130 

13, 466 

75 

1,183 

39, 671 

46, 052 

709, 952 

29, 651 

259, 653 

57, 986 

740, 502 



551, 678 

250, 687 

1, 844, 333 



Dollars. 

1, 400, 319 

10, 685 

131 

14, 685 

4,707 

29, 309 

41 ,"719 

3,976 

113, 755 

531, 933 



8,746 



2, 755, 811 

12, 078 

2,217 

4, 050, 533 

155, 440 



Dollars. 

9, 672, 493 

228, 513 

88, 222 

17,717 

6, 259 

87, 992 

781, 537 

2, 211, 716 

1, 061, 397 

2, 673, 154 
983, 574 

1, 923, 604 

1,604 

3, 418, 459 

52, 417 

18, 336 

4, 500, 721 

239, 708 



, 878, 102 



11, 251, 732 



27, 957, 423 



I, 682, 784 
, 799, 344 
., 145, 473 
48, 657 
748, 938 
191, 045 
169, 623 
281, 533 
!, 751,111 
326, 991 
, 551, 013 



48, 114 
27, 197 
134, 626 



G5, 753 
73, 954 
56, 565 
3, 395 
1,673 
12, 124 
1,423 
5,162 
112, 261 
2,289 
64, 647 



27, 404 
70, 322 
22, 808 
21,537 

2,101 
92, 116 
16, 951 

3,092 
178, 660 



3, 794, 983 

1, 944, 170 

1, 320, 265 

73, 666 

772, 582 

295,918 

202, 589 

290,113 

3, 090, 146 

356, 653 

1, 827, 470 



389, 146 



13, 968, 455 



a District No. 1 includes all of the United States north of Baltimore and east of the Eocky Mountains. District No. 2 includes the terri- 
tory having its outlet by the South Atlantic ports. District Ho. 3 includes the territory adjacent to the Gulf ports. District No. 4 embraces 
that portion of the United States bordering on the Pacific Ocean. 



WOOD EXPORTS. 



123 



The following diagram shows graphically the changes in export during the last thirty-two years : 

Bange of exports of forest products foi- twenty -five years from 1S65 to 1S89, and 1897. 
I. All forest products, crude aud manufactured. 
II. Lumljer, timber, and partly manufactured wood products. 



Years.'Q: E § 1^1 






MiJIion 
Do//ars. 

50 

40 

35 

30 

25 

20 

IS 

10 
8 

5 
3 

1 






























































/ 






























































/ 






























































/ 






























































/ 






























































/ 






























































/ 






























































/ 


















































\ 












/ 




















































^ 












t 


















































1 


\ 










I 
































































/ 


















































/ 














/ 
































































/ 






























































































































J 
































































/ 






































I 
























/ 






































\ 






















^ 




' 






































\ 
































































\ 












































/ 






























































/ 




























1 
































^ 




















1 






\ 


/ 


N 


































/ 




















/ 






^ 


H 




\ 


y 




























/ 






















\ 








































/ 






























































/ 






























































/ 




























' 


































/ 
























r- 


, 
























1 


^ 


































/ 




S 


























^ 










1 


r 




















1 


i 






\ / 




















^ 


1 


' 


V 








1 






















^ 








^ 


























\ 






1 




































/ 


1 






















-J 




1 






































\ 
























N 


1 






































\ 






I 


























































1 


s 




s 














































t 


s 


















\ 


/ 








































— 


' 




\ 
















\ 


/ 






























































































































































































































































































, 


^ 






































/ 


s 


















^ 
















































\ 














' 






























\ 






















y 


/ 


— 


■"* 


m 




































s 


r* 




V 


^ 










































/ 


--< 


■— < 


/ 
























































/ 








s 






















































































































































































9 
7 
5 
3 

1 




























































^ 


























































-7^ 


^ 


rl- 


— 


" 


















































V 


"J 


^ 










































/ 








. 






/ 1 


w 
















































'V 


— ' 


s 






«... 


-y 




































, 




-- 


■' 






> 


' 






's 






/ 






































'O 


^ 






-~, 


s 


/ 








































\ 


^ 


_, 


^ 


^ 


V- 


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*.^ 


,-' 


' 


S' 










































































. 






















^ 























III. Naval stores. 

IV. Wood manufactures, wliolly of wood. 
V. Manufactures partly of wood. 

Note. — The above summary of exports, in addition to the materials given in the summary of the Bureau of 
Statistics as "Wood and its manufactures," properly includes the following prodiicts, being entirely or in their 



124 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 



material largely derivetl from the forest: Naval stores, bark and tanniug extracts, asLcs, ginseng, sumac, together 
with matches, agricultural implements, carriages, cars, and musical instrnments. 

During the last two years a notable increase iu exports has taken place, which brings the 
figures for wood products and wood manufactures, with nearly $60,000,000, to more than double the 
amount of ten years ago, and 40 j^er cent more than tive years ago, when the exports amounted to 
nearly $43,000,000. This increase unfortunately is mostly iu raw materials, logs, and lumber, and 
is probably due to a very active export trade, especially in oak, with Germany. The naval store 
industry has also considerably increased in exports. 

To show how the various articles of export compare the following table will serve, iu which 
the exports of 1890 and 1897 are recorded : 

Exports of wood and wood products from the United States for the years ending June 30, 1890 and 1S97. 



Agricultnral implements : 

Horsepowers 

Mowers and reapers 

Plows and cultivators 

Ail other, and parts of 

Bark, and extract of, for tanning- 
Carriages and b orse cars 

Cars for steam railroads 



Ginseng pounds. 

Organs number. 

Matches 

Rosin -barrels. 

Tar do... 

Turpentine and pitch do... 

Spirits of torpentiue gallons. 

Firewood cords. 

Boards, deals, and planks M feet. 

Joists and scantling - . do... 

Hoops and hoop poles. 



Laths - M. 

Palings, pickets, and bed slats U . 

Shingles M. 

Shooks 



Box. 



other number. 

staves and headings 

All other lumber 

Timber: 

Sawed M feet. 

Hewn cubic feet. 

Logs and other round timber 

Doors, sash, and blinds 

Moldings, trimmings, and other house iinishing.s 

Hogsheads and barrels, empty 

Household furniture 

"Wooden ware *. 

All other wood manufactures , 



Total . 



1,601,377 
28, 806 
18, 327 
11, 248, 920 
7,648 
612,814, 
26, 684 



10, 491 
2,981 
S6, 527 



$3, 474 
2, 092, 638 

878, 874, 



2, 066, 980 

2, 689, 698 

605, 233 

750, 683 

62, 284 

2, 762, 373 

56, 105 

35, 037 

4, 500, 931 

16, 746 

9, 974, 888 

3S1,6J0 

69, 97S 

24, 951 

30, 653 

111, 926 

118, 557 
766, 007 

2, 476, 857 
1, 365, 141 

3, 384, 847 
1, 381, 747 
1,680,346 

320, 840 
116,295 
425, 278 

3, 088, 903 
360,515 

2, 197, 816 



46, 006, 781 



2, 429, 116 

17, 640 

18, 920 
17, 302, 823 



$3, 127, 415 

590, 779 

1, 623, 492 

241, 979 

1.955,760 

' 990, 950 

840, 686 

799, 132 

70, 988 

4, 088, 163 

34, 878 

44, 366 

4, 447, 551 

(a) 

13, 076, 247 

423, 875 

(«) 

(«) 

(a) 

103, 231 

529.492 
597. 606 

3, 922, 931 
3, 162, 470 

4, 036, 214 
1,236.112 
3,945,106 

857, 401 
197, 934 
267, 345 

3, 785, 143 
531, 480 

3, 253, 110 



50,; 



a Not specified. 

While undoubtedly increase in prices influences somewhat these figures, the following diagram, 
showing the range of prices for export materials, would indicate that this influence has not been 
appreciable, the prices remaining remarkably even, with the exception of the period after the war, 
and lately showing even a sinking tendency, although probably only temporarily. 

Annual average export prices of wood and certain wood products for each of the ten years ending June SO from 1SS2 to 1891, 

and 1S97. 



Articles. 


1883. 


1883. 


1884. 


1885. 


1886. 


1887. 


1888. 


1889. 


1890. 


1891. 


1897. 


"Wood, and manufactures of: 


M feet.. 


,$16. 90 


$16. 78 


$17. 06 
15.44 
2.43 
2.96 
3.58 
11.17 
.16 

1.83 
2.10 
2.23 
.34 


$15. 93 
14.06 
2.13 
2.90 
3.20 
10.60 
.15 

1.73 
1.77 
1.85 
.30 


$15.20 
13.97 
2.71 
2.45 
3.15 
10.82 
.16 

1.74 
1.90 
2.48 
.34 


$15.38 
14.67 
2.39 
2.63 
3.10 
11.79 
.16 

1.69 
1.94 
2.08 
.34 


$16. 39 
15.16 
2.57 
3.07 
3.32 
12.41 
.17 

1.53 
1.90 
1.74 
.34 


$16. 99 
13.37 
2.44 
2.89 
2.72 
12.38 
.18 

1.49 
1.99 
1.81 
.39 


$16. 28 
14. 30 
2.38 
3.06 
2.27 
12.49 
.16 

1.72 
1.95 
1.91 
.41 


$16. 17 
13.70 
3.61 
2.75 
3.41 
11.88 
.18 

1.04 
2. 26 
2.01 
.38 


.$14. 90 




rin 


11.70 


Laths, palings, pick'ets, bed slats, etc M . . 

Shingles ...M.. 


"'z'.bY 

3.99 


""s.'oi' 

3.60 


"""'i.'76 


Firewood 


cord.. 


io.'io 










.19 


Naval stores : 








1.96 










1.98 




do.... 






2.35 


Spii'its of turpentine 


gallons.. 


.47 


.44 


.25 



We find also by inspection of trade journals that, although many of the great staples have in 
some regions been entirely exhausted and in others approach exhaustion, prices of lumber have not 



PRICES OF WOOD. 



125 



advanced in proportion for various reasons. Competition, stimulated by active railroad building, 
opening up of virgin fields of supply, improved machinery, systematized methods of logging and 
of handling and marketing material have tended to keep the price down. 

Meanwhile stumpage has increased rapidly for such kinds as show rapid decrease in supply. 
Thus white pine stumpage more than doubled in ten years, while walnut, tulip poplar, and ash 
stumpage has increased manyfold as the supply has grown scarcer. 

In the markets, while the average price for lumber has advanced but little, the better grades 
have appreciated disproportionately. From the carefully collected census statistics for ship- 

Export price of lumher from 1855 to 1895. 
[The prices given represent market value at time of exportation in the ports whence the lumber was exported, averaged for all ports.] 



18S5 


I860 


ms 


1870 


1875 


1880 


1885 


1890 


1895 


^■=,4 












































\ 


\ 














31 




1 


\ 














30 




1 


\ 










_ 








1 


\ 


































21 






\ 














26 






\ \ 














ZS 




1 / 


\\ 














24 




1 / 


\\ 














23 




1 J 
















22 




1 1 
















21 






N 














?0 




■/ 




^ 












19 




/ 




\ 












18 




/ 


\ 


\ 












17 


-- 




\ 




li 












le 


— — - 


'; 






^^^^ 










IS 




/ 






^-~^ 


^ 










14 




' 










^ 


-^ 


^^ — 







13 


^^ 








'^^ 











: 


12 





















11 




















10 




















y 


















— 


7 
6 
S 
4 
3 

1 





' 


--. — 








. ^ 






= 



Boards, joisfs and scantlings, M ft. Timber, 100 cubic ft Shingles, M. 

building, which requires all first-class material, the average price per 1,000 feet, B. M., for the 
country at large for the following kinds appears: 



White oak 

other oaks 

Hard pine 

White pine.... 

Fir 

Spruce 

Cedar 

Cypress 

Average of all . 



$30. 70 
34.90 
24.40 
34.70 
21.00 
20.00 
40.00 
31.00 
30.00 



$19.00 (Indiana) 

20. 00 (Indiana, Kentucky, West Virgioii 

12.00 (Alabama) 

20. 00 (Minnesota) 

1,5.00 (Washington) 

12.00 (Delaware) 

17. 00 (Missouri) 

18.00 (Mississippi) 



$125.00 (California). 
102.00 (California). 

42.00 (Iowa). 
100.00 (Georgia). 

80.00 (Massachusetts). 

50.00 (Washington). 

65.00 (Connecticut). 

50. 00 (Delaware) . 



Firewood, even in the densely settled parts, remains stationary in price, on account of aban- 
doned farms and culled woodlands producing it in abundance; in fact, in many sections its value 
has decreased, competition of coal aiding in its reduction. 

FHcesfor lumber and stumpage of white pine. 
[Compiled from report of Saginaw Board of Trade.] 



1866. 
1807. 
1868. 
1869 . 
1870. 
1871- 
1872. 
1873 . 
1874. 



iber, per 1,000 Stumpage, per 1,000 
'eet B. M. leet. 



$11. 50 to $12. 00 



12.00 
12.00 
12.50 
12.00 
12.50 
13.00 
11.50 
10.50 
9.60 
9.00 



12.50 
12.50 
13.00 
12.50 
13.00 
12.00 
11.00 
10.00 
10.00 
9.50 



$1. 00 to I 
1.25 
1.50 
2.00 
2.00 
2.00 
2.00 
2.00 
2.00 
2.25 



Tear. 



1877. 
1878. 

1879 . 

1880 . 

1881 . 
1883. 

1883 . 

1884 . 

1885 . 
1880 . 
1887 . 



Lumber, per 1,000 Stumpage, per 1,000 
feet 13. M. feet. 



to $9.75 
10.00 
11.00 
12.00 
13.00 
14.50 
14.00 
13.00 
13.00 
13.00 
13.00 



2. .50 
2.75 
3.00 
3.50 
4.00 
4.00 
4.50 
4.50 
4.50 



5.00 
6.50 
6.50 
6.50 



126 



FORESTKY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTDEE. 



To show what position we occupy as exporters of forest products the following tabulations 
reproduced from the report of the Division of Forestry for 1887 will be of interest, placing the 
United States fourth among the seven or eight great exporters, the general position having 
hardly changed to date. Austria- Hungary should have been included in this comparison; it 
would not, however, materially change the relations. 

Meview of the timber export trade of the jirincijial exjjorthnj countries, (a) 



Sweden 

Norway 

Finland 

Eussia (imperfect) 

Germany (official) 

Italy (oak staves) 

Canada (official) 

United States (official) 

Total 



i, 216, 800 
I, 691, 400 
;, 927, 700 
. 507, 390 



Cubic feet. 
113, 805, 285 
64, 812, 000 
39, 480, 725 
146, 352, 340 
54, 287, OOn 
357, 400 
172, 910, 890 
122, 173, 650 



714, 179, 280 



Cuhic feet. 
121, 966, 020 
65, 455, 500 
42. 095, 625 
149, (i09, 955 
63,15:1,100 
717,850 
168,028,850 
114,074,370 



744, 901, 270 



Amount and prices of lieivn and satcn wood (exclusive of staves and furniture wood) imported into Great Britain, and 
jjroportion furnished by various countries, (a) 





Amount, 


Price per 

100 cubic 

feet. 


Approximate percentages. 


Tear. 


Norway, 
Sweden. 


Hussia. 


Canada. 


Germany. 


United 
States. 


Other 
countries. 


1831 


CuUc feet. 
276, 757, 300 
309, 758, 350 
322,811,900 
299, 863. 750 
308, 248, 950 
268, 059, 960 
275,451,000 


$2.72 
2.54 
2.42 
2.26 
2.25 
2.11 
(?) 


3G 
36 
36 
37 
37 
38 
38.7 


20 
24 
20 
22 
23 
23 
23.7 


23 
21 
26 
20 
20 
21 
19 


4 
5 
5 
5 
5 
3 
3.6 


7 
6 
C 

7 
6 

7 
7 


9 




8 




7 




9 




9 




8 




8 








294, 421, 600 


2.38 


36.8 


22.3 


21.5 


4.4 


6.7 


8.3 







As to imports, the changes from year to year are also comparatively trifling, though, of course, 
in the direction of increase, remaining also for the last ten years below $30,000,000 and ranging 
within $10,000,000 to $14,000,000. 

In these imports about one -fifth represents materials which we do not or can not produce in 
our country— such as certain cabinet woods; mahogany, ebony, etc., cork, and certain dye and 
tanning materials. The other four-fifths is material which comes into competition with our own 
products, and the bulk of this comes from Canada. Yet, balancing our imports with exports from 
and to that country, we do not get more than about $10,000,000 worth from our neighbor, an 
insignificant percentage of the one-billion dollar annual home product. This wiU appear from the 
following tables: 



Value of imports of wood, and wood manufactures from Canada to the United States. 
[United States Bureau of Statistics.] 



From — 


1892. 


1893. 


1894. 


1895. 


1896. 


Nova Scotia and New Brunswiclc : 


$413, 536 
742, 875 

1, 640, 804 
9, 012, 215 


$340, 680 
888, 789 

2, 642, 094 
9, 974, 274 


$334, 267 
658, 806 

3, 415, 403 
7,7 55,856 


$1, 972, 885 
179, 489 

9, 240, 665 
950, 778 
108, 179 


$2, 763, 630 




85, 056 


Quebec and Ontario : 


11, 700, 851 








133, 148 














11, 809, 430 


13, 845, 837 


12, 144, 332 


12, 451, 996 









WOOD IMPORTS. 



127 



Value of exports of wood and wood manufactures from the United States to Canada. 
[United States Bureau of Statistics ] 



To- 


1892. 


1893. 


1894. 


1895. 


1896. 




$115,110 

1, 746, 867 

100, 743 


$92, 208 

1, 990, 831 

100, 012 


$208, 737 

2, 740, 868 

111,914 


$190, 186 

2, 416, 728 

146, 423 


$216, 977 












Total 


1, 963, 730 


2, 183, 051 


3,061,519 


2, 753, 347 









The character and relative proportion of the imports will appear from the following tabulation, 
in which the segregation of articles free of duty and dutiable refers to conditions prevailing in 
1892 and 1893; while in 1897 the bulk of lumber and timber was on the free list. Adding dye- 
woods and their extracts, sumac and other tanniug materials, and such smaller wood products as 
form an inconspicuous part in manufactures, the amount of imports would be increased by about 
$1,500,000. 

Imports of wood and wood products for home consumption during the years ending June SO, 1S9S, 1S93, and 1897. 



Free of dntij. 

Firewood cords. 

Lo^s and round timber 

Hailroad ties number . 

Sbingle and stave bcilts 

Handle and bead bolts 

Ship timber 

Sbip planking 

Hop poles. 



, ebony, niahog.-iny, etc . 



Hemlock bark cords. 

Bamboos, ratt.ans, canes, el c , 

Briar root or briar -wood, and the like, partially manufactured 

Ashes. 



Fence posts 

Tar and pitch of wood barrels. 

Turpentine, spirits of gallons. 

Turpentine. Venice pounds. 

Pitch, Burgundy do... 



Total fre 



Wood unmanufactured not specially X'rovided for 

Timber; 

Used for spars, wharves, etc cubic feet.. 

Hewn and sawed do 

Squared or sided not specially provided for do 

Lumber : 

Boards, planks, deals, and other sawed lumber M feet.. 

Sawed lumber, not otherwise specjtied do 

Sawed boards, planka, deals — cedar, ebony, etc 

Clapboards ." M . . 

Hubs, posts, laths, and otherrough blocks. 



Laths M . , 

Pickets and palings M. 

Cedar poles, posts, and railroad ties No. 

Shingles II. 

Sliooks 

Staves 

Manufactures, all others : 

Barrels or boxes containing oranges, lemons, etc., apart from con- 
tents 

Casks and barrels, empty , 

Chair cane or reeda manufactured 

Cabinetware and household furniture 

Osier or willow, prepared for manufacture 

Osier or willow, manufactures of 

Wood pulp tons.. 

Veneers of wood 

Bark extract, for tanning pounds.. 

Sumac do — 

Corks and cork bark m.anufactured do — 

Matches , 

!Frames and sticks for umbrellas 

All other manufactures of wood or of which wood is the component 
of chief value 



Total dutiable - 



198, 850 
"748,626' 



9, 337 
36, 642 
281,430 



12, 295 
445, 804 
14, 036 



259,157 

3,157 

, 115, 986 



12, 973 
:, 724, 703 
671, 064 



$411, 482 

1,188,797 

131, 295 

44, 387 

59, 573 

31,721 

79, 622 

18,412 

230, 959 

48, 395 

2, 234, 003 

1,368,344 

356, 346 

1, 198, 813 

39, 185 

54, 855 

31,351 

3, 352 

3,470 

3,092 

4,386 



199, 187 
'6l'9,'235 



1,179 
10, 273 
20, 694 
207, 220 



$403, 601 

2, 164, 273 

97, 857 

53, 505 

53, 129 

29, 865 

8,404 

38, 968 

332, 244 

61,634 

2, 662, 658 

1,641,294 

241, 244 

922, 529 

40, 470 

76, 306 

31, 051 

6,376 

4,077 

2,365 

3,558 



7, 442, 640 



1, 416, 331 
5, 117 

99, 187 

29, 823 
327, 359 

22, 679 
259, 583 
731,299 

62, 981 
551,657 



467, 514 

919 

181,337 

411,712 

82, 633 

123, 820 

1,831,231 

8,264 

408 

294, 744 



9,432 

1, 419, 484 

65, 139 



327, 442 

5, 483 

1,815.949 

470, 001 



8, 365, 408 

26, 952 

943 

62, 868 

492 

0, 283, 8(15 

1, 533, 274 

24, 205 
113,988 

28, 227 
462, 140 

36, 700 
271, 236 
916, 759 

45, 746 
646, 613 

555, 987 

531 

173, 907 

382, 199 

64, 427 

125,916 

2, 909, 097 

750 

71 

398, 400 

351,731 

133,152 

H 17, 258 



$252, 352 
2, 616, 397 

244, 817 

(a) 
39, 924 

(a) 

342, 320 

(a) 

651, 897 

(a) 
1, 273, 101 
1, 323, 409 

133, 051 

806, 703 
54, 342 

(a) 



27, 024 

172,813 

1, 296, 503 



205, 242 
272, 166 
13, 047 
100, 672 



461, 413 
207, 671 
(a) 



a Not specified, included in other items. 



other materials. 



128 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



In former years the imports were more closely differentiated in the reports of the Statistical 
Bureau, especially as to the kinds of cabinet woods. To show this differentiation, and also to 
enable us to form an idea of the amount of wood rei^resented in the importations of materials 
which we could produce, and in our exports, an estimate of their cubic contents was made in the 
report of the Division of Forestry for 1887. A portion of the tables, which covered the period 
from 1880 to 1887, is here reproduced. It appears from these that our imports represent in the 
neighborhood of 100,000,000 cubic feet of wood, while our exports, worth nearly $(30,000,000, must 
at ijresent amount to j)robably 200,000,000 cubic feet. From these tabulations we also see that we 
pay for imports at the rate of 15 to 16 cents per cubic foot, while our exports are figured at 
between 11 and 12 cents. 

Exports of wood and loood products, lSSS-1887. 



Articles. 


1883. 


1884. 


1885. 


1886. 


1887. 


Cubic feet. 


Value. 


Cubic feet. 


. Value. 


Cubic feet. 


Value. 


Cubic feet. 


Value. 


Cubic feet. 


Value. 




432, 600 
41,617,166 

1, 737, 300 
a 301, 100 

938, 826 

357, 332 

a48,674,010 

13, 063, 6C0 

19, 913, 220 

31, 757, 962 


?15, 552 
8, 377, 908 

138, 983 
45, 108 

203, 779 
89, 333 
4, 867, 401 
1, 567, 631 
3, 102, 232 
1, 540, 637 


254, 016 

f 34, 438, 360 
\ 1,048,456 

4,455,900 
1 153, 000 

1 114, 540 

857, 141 

653, 985 

f 4,579.311 

\ 40, 297, 200 

8, 135, 000 

1 16,704,331 

\ 10, 615, 065 

21, 307, 900 


$9, 464 

7, 079, 701 

195,043 

356, 470 
22, 295 

15, 615 
183, 521 
186, 853 

1, 526, 437 

2, 686, 473 
976,191 

2, 247, 328 
1, 735, 382 
1, 704, 635 


209, 376 
34, 231, 192 
1, 081, 324 

4,332,450 
158, 617 

174, 881 
637,042 
720, 426 
4, 396, 395 
29, 261, 100 
9,841,200 
12,770,667 
8, 411, 066 
21, 147, 200 


$6, 985 

6, 570, 576 

183, 166 

346, 598 
20, 277 

28, 615 
132, 976 
205. 836 
1, 465, 465 
1,950,794 
1, 182, 142 
1, 009, 485 
1, 289, 281 
1,691,780 


261,408 

36, 155, 464 

898, 143 

2, 804, 830 
295, 855 

150, 645 
581,996 
604, 498 

3, 295, 041 
30,451,500 

9, 792, 500 
10. 112, 000 

5,037,612 
15, 732, 100 


$8, 568 

6,620,911 

151, 119 

224, 385 
48, 377 

10, 544 

103,049 

174, 723 

1,198.444 

2, 030, 097 

1. 175, 009 

2, 092, 557 
829, 019 

1,258,575 


160, 600 

35, 396, 666 

717, 250 

2, 673, 150 
221, 008 

109, 680 
541, 016 
547, 016 
2,815,515 
30, 089, 325 
10, 036, 600 
13, 967, 410 
4,260,639 
13, 015, 975 


$4, 975 


Boards, deals, andi 


0,531,144 


Joists and aoantli-ng...) 
Hoops and liooppoles, 


213, 852 


Laths 1 

Palings, pickets, and J 


32, 940 

13, 853 
101, 282 






Shooks, other 1 

Staves and headings.../ 

All other lumber 

Timber, sawed \ 

Timber, hewed J 

Logs and other timber. . 


938, 505 
2, 005, 955 
1,204,393 
1, 976, 750 

697, 915 
1, 041, 278 


Total uumannfac. 


158, 793, 116 


20, 948, 624 


143, 614, 205 


18,925,408 


127, 372, 936 


16,683,878 


122, 173, 652 


15, 934, 467 


114, 651, 850 


15, 065, 879 






Manufactures of— 
Doors, sash, andblinds 
Moldings, trimmings, 






393, 256 

231, 548 

426, 912 

3, 239, 775 

541, 685 

2, 290, 784 


294,942 

173, 661 

320, 184 

2, 429, 831 

406, 264 

1, 724, 838 


378, 688 

175, 204 

432,275 

2, 838, 256 

428, 619 

2, 120, 952 


284, 016 

131, 403 

324, 206 

2, 128, 692 

321,464 

1, 590, 714 


356, 007 

139, 913 

663, 277 

2, 829, 083 

441, 647 

1, 848, 531 


267, 005 

104, 935 

497, 458 

2, 121, 812 

331,235 

1, 386, 398 


364, 437 

152, 080 

609, 333 

2, 638, 327 

434, 648 

1, 973, 257 


273 328 








Hog.shoads and bar. 


401, 645 

3, 439, 158 

689, 072 

3, 263, 615 


301, 234 

2, 679, 369 

510, 770 

2, 447, 711 


456, 992 


Household furniture. . 


1, 978, 745 
325, 986 


All other manufac. 


1, 479, 943 






Total manufactures . 


7, 793, 445 


5, 845, 084 


7, 132, 960 


5, 349, 720 


6, 373, 994 


4, 780, 495 


6, 278, 458 


4, 708, 843 


6, 172, 082 


4, 629, 055 


Naval stores : 




3, 242, 818 

4, 306, 229 




f 2, 909, 074 

\ 91, 248 

I lis, 842 

3,885,500 




2, 198, 267 
66, 449 
29, 847 

2, 690, 231 




1,963,091 
36, 208 
32, 999 

2, 811, 777 




2 301,636 










39,772 


Turpentine and pitcbj 
















3, 489, 985 














Total naval stores 
and spirits of tar- 




7, 609, 047 




7, 004, 700 




4, 984, 794 




4, 844, 075 




















Bark and tanning ex- 




87, 528 

124, 499 

3, 883, 919 

3, 061, 639 

1,20 J. 613 




292, 851 

106, 809 

3, 442, 767 

3, 552, 814 

1,079,118 




346, 218 

69, 840 

2, 561, 602 

2, 898, 698 

941,344 




283, 086 

82, 204 

2. 367, 258 

2, 584, 717 

871,446 








41, 499 


35, 603 


23,280 


27, 401 
103,388 


25, 793 


77, 379 


Agriuultnralimplements 






142, 112 


115, 944 










831, 837 
















Miscellaneous 


163, 965 


8, 361, 197 
42, 703, 952 


177, 715 
150, 924, 880 


8, 474, 359 


139, 224 


6, 817, 702 


130, 789 
128, 582, 899 


6; 188, 724 
31, 676, 109 


26, 793 
120, 749, 726 


3,287,314 




166, 750, 526 


39, 754, 187 


133, 886, 154 


33, 266, 869 


28, 842, 881 







a The estimates of cubic feet marked, (a) : 
be taken as only approximately correct. 



i based upou the values giv 



ud not upon official report^ of quantity, and are therefore to. 



CONIFEROUS SUPPLIES. 
Imports of loood and wood products, 1S8S-1SS7 . 



129 





1883. 1 


1884. 1 


1886. 


1886. 1 


1887. 


Articles. 


Cubic feet. 


Yalue. 


Cubic feet. 


Value. 


Cubic feet. 


Value. 1 


Cubic feet. 


Value. 


Cvbic feet. 


Value. 


Free of duty. 

Wood, unmanufactured, 
not else-whero speci- 
fied: 


16, 260, 804 

7, 673, 100 

»10,a77,617 

7, 456, 080 

202, 468 

86, 436 


$397, 391 
613, 847 
622, 657 
186,402 
60, 617 
28, 812 


16, 249, 82 1 

5, 617. 300 

6, 764, 359 
9, 933, 680 

190, 016 
125, 829 
323, 200 


$373, 912 
449, 382 
382, 719 
248, 342 
47, 504 
41, 943 
40, 399 
5,941 
56,765 
364, 410 

80, 961 
8,512 

6, 987, 694 
28, 785 

60, 690 
257, 529 

57, 596 
215, 454 

84, 066 
280, 150 

31, 686 
668, 440 

158. 419 
14, 560 
348, 055 


15, 597, 216 
4,811,800 

3, 850, 301 

4, 847, 080 

58, 652 
63, 369 
150, 200 


$338, 806 
384, 948 
187, 168 
121, 177 
14, 663 
22, 123 
18, 780 
9,637 
47, 334 
288, 979 

38, 960 
11, 712 

6, 189, 781 
41, 827 

59, 039 
199, 819 

51,027 
158, 043 

70, 015 
253,703 

19,666 


16,910,400 

5, 748, 000 

7, 265, 085 

5, 374, 280 

156, 076 

56, 571 

100, 000 


$349, 134 
459, 843 
377, 443 
134, 367 
39, 019 
18, 857 
12,511 
6,897 
36, 849 
236, 198 

25, 827 
2,221 

5, 639, 813 

59, 389 

60, 615 
198, 756 

61, 318 
171, 523 

105,449 
269, 961 

9,273 
564,276 

176, 679 
9,079 
34, 187 

1,224 

308, 101 

15, 164 

238, 380 

I 462,809 

72, 403 
520, 184 
69, 043 

2,807 
10, 910 
42, 363 
479, 861 
46, 957 

2,698 
12, 641 

219, 583 

891,392 


16, 464, 288 

7, 338, 400 

8, 424, 833 
5, 254, 800 

181, 988 
98, 094 
26, 224 


$327, 349 


Lo^a andround timber. 


484, 945 


Shineleand stave bolts. 


45,497 










W H 1 




19, 132 




wooapuix) 












47, 353 






343, 559 

324, 202 
18,990 

7, 009, 644 
30, 224 

66, 620 
205,513 

60, 494 
281,831 

37, 446 
27, 410 

127. 316 
459, 759 

91,400 










272, 956 


Dutiable. 

Wood, unmanufactured, 
not elsewhere specified. 


2, 593, 616 
156, 656 

43, 754, 061 
918, 933 

370, 111 
2, 779. 648 

610, 400 
1, 469, 650 

149, 784 
109, 538 


647, 688 
71,812 

44,725,966 
841, 253 

337, 167 
2, 982, 784 

375, 920 
1, 206, 282 

336, 264 
1, 040, 546 


311,680 
73, 290 

41,854,165 
998, 807 

327, 993 

2, 477, 008 

375, 920 

976, 556 

280, 060 
942,318 


206, 616 
20, 231 

39, 933, 981 

1, 303, 413 

337, 161 

2, 457, 216 
406, 080 

1, 107, 414 

421, 796 
1, 002, 710 


142, 896 
9,967 

40,297,865 
1, 397, 450 

260, 867 
3, 061, 728 

388, 800 
1, 254, 176 

463, 996 
1,129,258, 


17, 862 
1,025 


Lumber : 
Boards, planks, deals, 


5, 825, 320 






Hubs, posts, lasts, and 
rough blocks 


46, 956 
241, 077 


Pickets and palings 


185, 611 


Sliooks and packing 


115, 999 


StavR'i 




Bark extracts, chiefly 


51 










504, 289 

147, 132 
11, 628 
106, 395 






466,378 


Cork and cork bark, 












209, 532 














8,101 




4, 064 
1, 957, 208 


12,192 
[ 2,576 

233, 291 
. 54, 424 

26«,05S 
[ 865, 559 

38, 953 
424, 058 

47, 824 
814 

12, 336 
101, 305 
406, 8U9 
313, 348 

10, 529 


116,018 
1, 591, 322 


35,465 


11, 396 


8,486 
1, 602, 744 


25, 458 


Manufactures : a 

Casks and barrels 

Cabinet ware and fur- 


1,896 

295, 064 

51, 691 

237, 834 

1. 607,007 

83, 921 
668, 868 
63,614 
365 
7,051 
45, 206 


1,411,916 


1,494 

268, 810 

28, 665 

202, 663 

\ 557, 305 

223, 016 

520, 605 

26,311 

432 

1,117 

8,698 

592, 771 

52, 306 

654 

5,984 

226, 491 

879, 243 


I 1,367,690 


1,780 
387,234 


Osiers and willows, 

peeled and dried 

Osier and willow bas- 


18, 516 
312, 179 


AU other manufac- 


[ 482,349 


Free of duty. 

Cabinet woods : h 
Box 


35, 202 
263, 825 


Ebony 












51, 211 
1,685 














23, 975 










66, 513 




:::::::::::: 









663, 473 


Mahogany 


n I7* ocr 1 






62, 308 


Eose 


4,009 
5,834 

315, 173 

935, 871 









1,339 
















All •other c.-il)iiiet 




465, 814 
934,427 










252. 084 


Cork wood or bark, un- 
manufactured 






! 






1, 239, 247 




96, 830, 134 


15,299,481 


93, 477, 230 


15,447,292 79,446,796 


12,893,405 


84,186,712 


12,461,985 


87, 796, 860 


13, 341, 609 






' 





a E,,timate,l from v.alues reported, actual measuren.onts not being. given The principal ob|ect m the comp^ilation of these tables has b^^^^ 
to show the quantity of forest material involved in our exports and imports. All estimates ot quantity are made on the basis ot the cib^^ 
foot as a common standard. Where the reports from which these tables are compiled do not give quantities but only values, the quantities 
have beei estimated from the values. In the case of manufactures, such as barrels, cabinet ware, etc., articles are estimated to have one- 
tt M oftolir value iuma^^^ is reckoned as worth 25 cents per cubic foot. Kound timber is reckoned at 8 cents per cubic foot, ship 

timber at 25. Shingles are estimated at 14 cubic feet per 1,000, and lath at 16 teet per 1,000. ,„„„;„*. „f 

ilt will be seen by a comiiarison of figures th-it only about one-fifth in value of all importations of wood and wood products consists of 
articles not producible in this country. 

From the preceding tabulatioii of the annual cut of timber it appears that about three- 
fourths of our consumption comes from coniferous growth— pines, spruces, lirs, hemlock, red- 
woods, cedar, etc. 

This particular portion of our resource is, therefore, the most important, and again the white 
pine has so far formed the bulk of these supplies. It will, therefore, appear appropriate to 
reproduce such portions of Senate Document Xo. 40, furnished by the Division of Forestry, as will 
elucidate the economic condition of this particular part of our resource. 
H. Doc. 181 9 



130 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



CONSUMPTION AND SUPPLIES OF CONIFEROUS WOODS. 

Ever since the publication of tlie statistics of the Tenth Census regarding the white pine 
timber standing — nearly iifteen j^ears — there has been a contention as to their correctness. Time 
has proven their extreme inaccuracy, for, while then only eight years' supply was supposed to be 
standing when the annual cut was 10,000,000,000 feet, we have, with an increased cut, lumbered' 
white pine for sixteen years and still there is a considerable quantity left. 

Yet at last the end is visible, and even the most sanguine can not longer hide the truth that 
within the next decade we shall witness the practical exhaustion of this greatest staj)le of our 
lumber market. 

As stated before, even now there are really no statistics upon which to base a correct prog- 
nostication as to the date of this exhaustion. Bstiiuates only are available, and estimates of 
standing timber are proverbially unreliable, mostly underestimates, and always to be taken with 
caution. Furthermore, if an estimate of the duration of supplies of a special kind is to be made, 
it is necessary not only to know the supplies and the present cut, but also to foresee the changes 
in the cut, the replacement in the market by other kinds, and the economies that may be prac- 
ticed in the methods of logging; as, for instance, by the reduction in the size acceptable for saw 
logs, by cutting smaller trees, by the use of band saws, and by closer utilization generally, whereby 
the duration of supplies can be lengthened. 

Thus, while the estimates of the Tenth Census were based on a minimum log of, say, 10 or 
even 12 inches diameter, in the present practice 8-inch and even 5-inch logs are used ; while in 
1880 hemlock went begging and whitewoodhad not yet been found to answer as a good substitute 
for white pine, and Southern pine had not yet begun to compete, the interchangeableness of all 
these species in the market now renders the forecast still more complicated. 

Nevertheless, it has become apparent that while white pine will be cut in the United States 
for many decades, as owners of the stumpage control their holdings, the enormous amounts which 
have hitherto been cut annually can not be had beyond the next five or six years, even with 
Canada to help in eking out our deficiencies. 



CONSUMPTION. 



From the statistics of the cut since 1873, compiled by the Northwestern Lumberman, it 
appears that since that year the stupendous amount of 154-,000,000,000 feet, B. M., and 83,000,000,000 
shingles, or altogether in round numbers 105,000,000,000 feet of white pine has been cut in the 
States of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota; and this total may be readily increased, by 
allowing for cuts in other parts of the country, to over 200,000,000,000 feet, B. M., which this 
single species has yielded to build up our civilization in the last twenty-three years, or in the 
last ten years at the rate of eight to nine billion feet, an amount to produce which continuously 
at least 30,000,000 acres of well-stocked and well-kept pine forest would be required. 

Divided for convenience and comparison into six-year periods, the cut in the Northwest 
appears to have been as follows, according to the source cited : 

White pine sawed iy mills of Michigan, Wisoonsin, and Minnesota. 
[In billion feet, B. M., round numbers. 1 





1S73-1878. 


1879-1884. 


1885-1890. 


1891-1896. 




23 
2 


40 
3 


48 
3 


44 
2 






25 


43 


51 


46 



A total of 165,000,000 feet, B. M. 

From 1873, when the cut was about 4,000,000,000 feet, the draft on this resource was con- 
stantly increased until 1892, when it reached its maximum, nearly 9,000,000,000 feet, B. M., and 
4,500,000,000 shingles. Then a gradual decline began to 7,000,000,000 feet in 1893, 0,750,000,000 
feet in 1891, rising once more to over 7,000,000,000 in 1895, and reaching the lowest output in 1890, 
with 5,500,000,000 feet; shingle production declining similarly to 1,500,000,000, which, translated 



CONIFEROUS SUPPLIES. 131 

into board measure, raises the requirements for tliat year to little less than 7,500,000,000 feet. 
This decline does not necessarily indicate any giving out of the su^jply, but might have been due, 
and probably was due, to business depression generally and to the competition of other kinds of 
lumber and shingles. 

The total output of white pine in 1890, before the maximum was reached and when the cut of 
the N'orthwest was recorded for lumber and shingles as a little over 9,000,000,000 feet, was placed 
by the competent agent of the Eleventh Census, in charge of the statistics of lumber manufacture, 
at 11,300,000,000 feet of white pine and Norway pine, or about 25 per cent as coming from other 
regions, while hemlock, spruce, and hr were estimated as furnishing 7,900,000,000 feet, so that 
our requirements of these classes of timber may for ordinary years be placed in round numbers at 
20,000,000,000 feet. 

In discussing the question of duration of supplies it can, as stated before, be reasonably done 
only by considering at the same time all supplies of a similar nature — namely, of the white pine, 
Jforway pine, spruce, and hemlock at least— which can be and are used more or less inter- 
changeably, and will be still more so in the future, to meet our immense requirements for this 
class of material. That these requirements are not to remain stationary, but have a tendency to 
increase, may be seen from the development of the wood-pulp industry. 

"While in 1881 the daily capacity of wood-pulp mills was less than 750,000 pounds, it had more 
thau doubled in 1887, and then increased steadily, doubling almost every three or four years, as 
follows : 



Pounds. 

1887 1,687,900 

1888 2,153,500 

1889 3,474,100 



Pounds. 

1892 5,136,300 

1893 6,495,400 

1894 7, 231, 900 



1890 4,012,200 j 1895 9,027,000 

1891 4,497,200 i 

This last figure may be conservatively estimated to correspond to an annual consumption of 
probably 800,000,000 feet, B. M., of material. 

There was imported from 1891 to 1896 wood pulp to the value of $10,337,659, as follows: 

1891 $1,902,689 

1892 1,820,143 

1893 2,908,884 

1894 1,664, .547 

1895 984,692 

1896 1,056,704 



Total 10,337,659 



SUPPLIES. 



While the above figure of 20,000,000,000 feet, B. M., gives a fair idea as to average consump- 
tion, which may vary perhaps by 10 per cent one way or the other, we are much less certain as to 
supplies standing. 

For Minnesota the chief fire warden of the State has attempted a canvass, the result of which 
would indicate nearly 18,000,000,000 feet as standing in the State, including Norway pine, the 
estimate having been made for 1895. This has been criticised by competent judges as much too 
high; nevertheless, adding the estimates of all other kinds of coniferous wood, some of which as 
yet remains unused, it is thought that a statement in round numbers of 20,000,000,000 feet of 
coniferous wood in Minnesota fit for lumbering, though large, would be reasonably enough near 
the truth for our purposes in forecasting the probabilities. 

For Wisconsin we have a very close estimate, made by the Division of Forestry in 1897 and 
fully described in Bulletin ISTo. 16 of that Division. According to this canvass the amount of 
white pine standing is still 15,000,000,000 feet, B. M., and of all coniferous wood 29,000,000,000 
feet, while the writer in the Senate document had estimated it at 30,000,000,000 feet. 

For Michigan a canvass from towusliip to township has been made by the commissioner of 
labor of the State for 1896, which develops an area of 2,250,000 acres in pine and hemlock. 

If the average stand per acre, which the census of 1890 showed as 6,000 feet for white pine, is 
applied to the whole area, the amount of timber standing would be 15,000,000,000 feet, which, for 



132 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

safety, we may increase by 20 per cent, or say 18,000,000,000 feet, of wliicli 6,000,000,000 would be 
white pine. 

For Pennsylvania the partial returns of the commissioner of forestry would make an estimate 
of 10,000,000,000 feet pine and hemlock appear highly extravagant. In a private communication 
he estimates the standing timber of white pine at 500,000,000, of spruce at 70,000,000, and of hem- 
lock at 5,000,000,000 feet, B. M. 

For New York, without much basis, 5,000,000,000 may be allowed as an extravagant figure, 
with a cut of not less than 500,000,000 feet; another 3,000,000,000 for New Hampshire; and, with 
a closer estimate, based on figures given by the forest commissioner of Maine, that State may be 
given at best not to exceed 10,000,000,000 feet of spruce, pine, and hemlock. 

It is well known that in the "Pine Tree" State the white pine is long since reduced to a 
small proportion of the coTiiferous wood standing. The spruce country is confined to the ele- 
vated northern half of the State, north of a line from the White Mountains to Mars Hill, with a 
spruce-bearing area of probably less than 6,000 square miles. The stand on the two main 
spruce-producing drainage basins, the Kennebec and Androscoggin, has been estimated at round 
5,000,000,000 feet, B. M., with a present cut of round 350,000,000 feet. Partial statistics of the 
cut would indicate a total cut of coniferous woods in Maine of not far from 500,000,000 feet in 1895 
and preceding years. 

In all these estimates of standing timber the writer has leaned toward extravagance rather 
than understatement, and thus the total is found to add up 100,000,000,000 feet of coniferous 
growth in the Northern States, of which less than half is pine, to satisfy a cut of at least 
18,000,000,000 to 20,000,000,000 feet per annum. 

The writer does not say that iu less than six years every stick of pine, spruce, and hemlock 
will be cut, for such figures as these do not admit of mathematical deductions, but the gravity of 
the question of supply is certainly apparent. Even doubling the estimates, it is found that, with 
the present rate and method of cutting, ten years would exhaust our virgin timber of these classes. 
We should add that much more intimate knowledge exists now regarding these supplies than was 
possible iu 1880, when much of the country was still unopened and unknown. 

OTHER CONIFEROUS SUPPLIES. 

The Southern pines, to be sure, will enter more largely into competition, as also the cypress 
and other coniferous woods of the South. 

The entire region within which i^ines occur in the South in merchantable condition comprises 
about 330,000 square miles, or, in round numbers, 147,000,000 acres; for laud in farms, 10,000,000 
acres must be deducted, and allowing as much as two-thirds of the remainder as representing pine 
lands (the other to hard woods), we would have about 90,000,000 acres on which pine may occur. 
An average growth of 3,000 feet per acre — an extravagant figure when referred to such an area — 
would make the possible stand 270,000,000,000 feet, provided it was in virgin condition and not 
largely cut out or culled. Altogether, the writer has reached the conclusion that, adding all other 
coniferous wood in the South, an estimate of 300,000,000,000 feet would be extravagant, which, 
added to the Northern supply of coniferous wood, gives a total supply of 400,000,000,000 feet to 
draw from in the Eastern United States; and as the entire cut of these classes of wood appears 
now to be not less than 25,000,000,000 feet a year, and probably is nearer 30,000,000,000, it may be 
stated with some degree of certainty that not fifteen to twenty years' supply of coniferous timber 
can be on hand in the Eastern States. 

In 1886 the writer ventured a statement that there was 600,000,000,000 feet of coniferous 
growth in the Eastern States; the cut was then estimated at 12,000,000,000 feet. If an average 
cut of 20,000,000,000 for the last ten years be allowed, which is reasonable, the present estimate of 
400,000,000,000 standing would lend color to the approximate correctness of these figures. 

If the inquiry is extended to the coniferous growth of the Pacific coast, which, in spite of the 
distance, must finally come to our aid, only partial comfort wUl be found. The writer's estimate of 
1,000,000,000,000 feet standing has been by competent judges declared extravagant. The annual 
cut on the Pacific coast approaches certainly 4,000,000,000 feet; hence, adding these figures to 
those obtained for the East, with 1,400,000,000,000 feet standing at best, and a cut of at least 
30,000,000,000 feet per annum, there would appear to be, under most favorable contingencies, not 



CANADIAN SUPPLIES. 



133 



more than forty to fifty years of this most uecessary part of our wood supply in sight if the same 
lavishness in the use of it is continued. 

To be sure, there is some new growth and reproduction going on. The probability as to the 
former is that decay and destruction by fire offset the accretion on the old timber of coniferous 
growth, and no one familiar with our forest conditions and present methods will indulge in a hope 
that the reproduction and young growth can materially change the results. Long before any new 
reproduction can have attained log size we will have got rid of the virgin supplies. 

CANADIAN SUPPLIES. 

As to importations, there is practically only one country from which such timber can be 
obtained — Canada. 

The statistician of the department of agriculture of the Dominion of Canada in 1895 estimated 
the white pine standing at 37,300,000,000 feet, with an annual cut of nearly 2,000,000,000 feet, 
including spars, masts, shingles, etc., which, as will readily be seen, can not materially change 
the position stated before, namely, that the next decade may witness the practical exhaustion of 
this greatest lumber staple. Even allowing 10,000,000,000 feet of merchantable spruce, which 
may be found in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, such allowance can not appreciably retard 
this exhaustion, since the total annual cut of Canadian coniferous wood exceeds 5,000,000,000 feet. 
Fifty per cent may be readily added to the estimates of standing timber in eastern Canada, thus 
assuming 75,000,000,000 feet as on hand, and still Canada's cut alone will exhaust her resources in 
fifteen years, and this country will assist her to get rid of it in less time. 

So far the importations from Canada, although rapidly increasing, have been insignificant 
wlieu compared with our home consumption. The importations of all kinds of forest products and 
wood manufactures have been hardly over 1 per cent of our own ijroductiou, and, if we confine the 
inqxiiry to coniferous material only, the proportion of the importation of this class of materials 
rises to hardly 5 per cent of our home production of the same kinds. 

To arrive at an idea of the extent to which we have so far drawn on our neighbors for conif- 
erous supplies, an atterax^t has been made in the following table to segregate from the trade and 
navigation reports of the Dominion of Canada those items which have reference to this discussion, 
translating into board measure approximately the returns given in other measures. These figures 
are probably somewhat below the truth, but are sufficiently accurate for the present purpose, and 
are moreover the only ones available. 



M.rports of coniferous products from Canada to United States. 
[In millions of feet, B. M., rounded off.] 



Coniferous products. 


1877-1882. 


1883-1888. 


1889-1894. 


1892. 


1893. 


1894. 


1895. 


1896. 


Logs; 


6 years. 
6.5 
9.0 
2.2 


6 years. 
9.5 
26.6 
4.6 


6" years. 
20.0 
86.9 
504.5 


5.0 
23.0 
74.0 


5.9 
21.0 
127.0 


5.2 
17.9 
277.9 


2.2 
25.0 
212.2 








Pine 










16.7 


40.7 


611.4 


102.0 


153.9 


301.0 


239.4 








Lumber : 


31.5 
43.5 
965.8 

1.4 
14.9 

3.9 


108.7 

64.8 

1, 132. 9 

.8 

21.8 

1.6 

(a) 


204.5 
250.7 
3, 098. 1 
.7 
132.2 
165.5 
{a) 


53.0 
38.7 
651.4 

33! 4 


51.0 
89.4 
759.1 


42.5 

42.8 

1, 018. 3 


44.2 
44.0 
549.5 


















40.3 


36.5 


65.8 




Timbers 






30.0 


62.0 


61.5 


76.3 










1,061.0 


1, 330. 6 


3,851.7 


806.7 


1. 001. 8 


1,201.6 


779.8 










1,077.7 


1, 371. 3 


4,463.1 


908.7 


1,155.7 


1, 502. 6 


1, 019. 2 









aToo small to be stated in millions of feet, B. M. 



It will bo seen that each six years' period shows an increase, and that the exports of the last 
three years were only 25 per cent lower than those of the six preceding years. The largest imports 
were recorded for 1891, when nearly 1,250,000,000 feet partly manufactured coniferous wood and 
300,000,000 feet of logs of conifers were imported. This latter importation increased steadily up 



134 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS V. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



to that time, furnishing raw material mainly to our Michigan mills, whose home supjily is largely 
gone. 

Eegardiug the importations of logs, it is interesting to observe that they increased in quantity, 
without reference to the existence or absence of the export duty which the Canadian Government 
imposed in 1886 and abolished in 1891, and the price per M feet also seems uninfluenced. The 
necessity for these supplies to our mills, especially the mills of the Saginaw (Michigan) district, 
began to assert itself in 1886, the very year the export duty was imposed to prevent, if possible, 
these exports of raw materia!, and has grown constantly, the decline in 1895 and 1896 simply 
marking the general business depression. 

Logs imported from Canada. 





Piue logs. 


Spruce logs. 


Hemlock logs. 


Tear. 


Quantity, 
M feet. 


Value. 


Price 
per M 
feet. 


Quautity, 
M feet'. 


Value. 


Price 
perM 
feet. 


Quantity, 
M feet: 


Value. 


Price 
perM 
feet. 




974 

380 

2,869 

6,350 

468 

10, 839 

32,144 

36, 099 

7ii, 963 

127, 084 

277, 947 

212,231 

157, 400 


$3, 012 
2,S00 
24,4.52 
49, 242 
3,875 
94, 287 
261, 626 
313, 281 
651, 540 

1, 056, 355 

2, 359, 951 
1, 860, 319 
1,423,489 


$8.23 
6.05 
8. .52 
7.75 
8.28 
8.70 
8.14 
8.54 
8.81 
8.32 
8.49 
8.77 
9.06 


6,820 
11, 165 
17, 541 
17, 626 
20, 714 

20, 360 
26. 073 
28, 494 
23, 404 

21, 103 
17, 926 
25, 095 
15, 182 


$31, 793 
49, 449 
81, 874 
88,773 
99, 450 
137, 298 
156, 898 
158, 384 
141,168 
123, 254 
107. 250 
90, 990 
86, 075 


$4.06 
4.43 
4.67 
6.65 
4.80 
6.71 
6.02 
5.56 
6.02 
5,84 
6.00 
3.64 
5.67 


4,818 
3,629 
6,881 
4, 206 
4, 512 
6,420 
2,962 
2,210 
5,057 
5,880 
5,217 
2,217 
4,761 


$19, 168 
14, 752 
28, 076 

17, 447 

18, 383 
24,261 
12, 288 

9,802 
21, 426 
20, 036 

19, 713 
9,017 

18, 607 


$3.98 


1885 






1887 








1889 




1890 . . . 








1892 .. . 




1893 












1896 









It will be evident from these statements that our virgin coniferous supplies must share the 
fate which the buffalo has experienced, unless a practical application of rational forestry methods 
and a more economic use of supplies is presently inaugurated. Since coniferous wood represents 
two-thirds to three fourths of our entire lumber-wood consumption, and its reproduction requires 
more care and lofiger time than that of hard woods, the iirgency of changing methods in its use 
and treatment will be apparent. 

No more striking statement of the decline in white-pine supplies could be made than to cite 
the number of feet in logs which passed the nine leading booms in the lower peninsula in Michigan 
in 1887, namely 2,217,104,985 as against 505,134,656 feet in 1893, a decrease of nearly 80 per cent, 
chargeable no doubt in part to other modes of transportation, but nevertheless foreshadowing 
unmistakably the practical exhaustion of sui^plies. 

Another indication of the waning of sujjplies may be found in the increase of prices paid for 
stumpage. While, owing to improvement in means of transportion machinery and mill practice 
and to the close comj)etition of mills, the increase in the price of lumber has been comparatively 
small except for the best grades, which are becoming scarcer with the reduction in the size of the 
average log than the poorer grades, the prices paid for the trees in the woods, the stumpage has 
more than doubled for each decade from 1866 to 1886, as appears from the table given above. At 
present it would probably be difficult to find any stumpage desirably located at the highest price 
prevailing in 1887, and this year (1898) stumpage even of the southern pine has gone up to $4.00 
and $6.00 per M feet. 

Returning now to a consideration of the consumjition of wood materials in general we can 
summarize with the statement that our consumption at j)resent of all kinds, sizes, and description, 
including the enormous firewood supplies of a round 180,000,000 cords, can not fall short of 
25,000,000,000 cubic feet of forest-grown material, counting in the waste in the woods and the 
mills and loss by fire. That means a consumption of 50 cubic feet per acre of forest, or 350 cubic 
feet per capita.* 

Considering that in the well-kejit forests of Germany, where reproduction is secured by 

* The largest part of this consumption is for firewood. According to the census of 1880 the consumption of 
firewood must then have been 280 cubic feet per capita (figuring 100 cubic feet solid to the cord), and this amount 
has probably not been reduced during the last decade. This flj-ewood is not, as in older countries, made up of 
inferior material — brush and small fagots — but is, to a large estentj split body wood of the best class of trees. 



FOREST FIRES. 



135 



skillful management, the total growth per acre, brush and branch wood included, averages only 55 
cubic feet, it needs no argument to prove that we are cutting yearly far more than can be 
reproduced, especially when we consider that while in Germany all inferior material is utilized, 
we use even for firewood purposes good-sized material, body wood, hardly inferior to saw timber, 
so that the comparison should be rather with the production of what the Germans call "derbholz," 
including all material over 3 inches, which averages hardly 38 cubic feet per acre and year. 

The inadequacy of our supplies for continuous use at the present rate, it must appear, is 
unquestionable, unless we apply more rational methods of treating our forest areas. 

That for a time at least decrease of consumption is not likely to occur we may learn from a 
comparison of figures of consumption from decade to decade, which indicate an increase of 30 per 
cent or more. 

Estimates of value of forest vroduets used in 1860, 1870, 1880, and 1890. 

[Including all raw, partially manufactured, wholly manufactured wood prodacts, fuel, and naval stores ; estimated upon the basis of census 

iigures, and other sources of information.] 



Articles. 


1860. 


1870. 


1880. 


1890. 




$155, 000, 000 

45, 000, 000 

50, 000, 000 

6, 000, 000 

135, 000, 000 


$340, 000, 000 
62, 000, 000 

100, 000. 000 
14, 000, 000 

210, 000, 000 


$400, 000, 000 
55, 000, 000 

110, 000, 000 
30, 000, 000 

328, 000, 000 


$438, 000, 000 










40, 000, 000 
350, 000, 000 






Total 


a391, 000, 000 


716,000,000 


923, 000, 000 


1, 028, 000, 000 





a Probably 25 per cent underestimate. 

Considering the consumption in relation to the population, we find by comparison with other 
nations of equally civilized conditions that, if our figures are approximately correct, our per 
capita consumption is from eight to twenty times more than the per capita cousumption of 
Germany, France, or England. For while we figure 350 cubic feet of all kinds for our people, 
Germany uses 44, France 32, and England 15 cubic feet per capita. And if we exclude the more 
uncertain firewood consumption and estimates of waste, and compare only the most important 
part of the consumption, we find the relation not less striking; for while we consume nearly 
80 cubic feet of log timber, equal to 50 cubic feet of sawed goods, or between 500 and 600 feet 
B. .M., per capita annually, Germany requires only 15 cubic feet of sawed material, or about 150 
feet B. M.; France 8.3 cubic feet, and England, importing nearly all her wood materials, can get 
along with one-quarter of oirr consumption. We see, then, that there is a wide margin for saving 
in wood supiilies by substituting iron and stone in our structures; by using jireservative processes 
with our railroad ties and other timbers; by using our wood materials with more discretion and 
knowledge. 

Our enormous annual loss by fires, largely due to the many wooden structures, and giving rise 
to a destruction of property estimated at $100,000,000, constitutes a drain on our forest sui^plies 
which can be largely avoided. 

FOREST FIRES. 

Another cause of useless and wasteful decimation of forest supplies is occasioned by the 
yearly conflagrations, which destroy not acres but square miles of standing timber and the young- 
growth, and even the soil, the fertility, an accumulation of centuries of decaying leaf mold. 

Eegarding the loss by fire no adequate conception can be formed. Fires are of such general 
occurrence that only tlie larger conflagrations are noticed, and it is difficult to obtain reports as to 
their extent and destructiveness. 

In the South the foolish custom of annually burning off the old grass in order to gain a fort- 
night's earlier pasturage still prevails and gives rise to widespread destruction, which is increased 
by the coniferous composition of the larger part of these areas and the additional danger occasioned 
by turpentine orchards. In the West carelessness of campers seems to be the principal cause of 
fires, which, owing to the dryness of the climate and absence of population interested in stopping 
the conflagrations, assume frightful dimensions and often not only destroy square miles of timber, 
but endanger the lives and property of settlers. 



136 FORES'fRY INVESTIGxiTIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

From locomotives without spark arresters or carelessly baudled at the ash pit comes the 
greatest danger in the East. To estimate even the direct loss or damage from this source is well- 
nigh impossible, much less the indirect loss, which consists in the destruction of the forest floor, 
the handing over of the ground to worthless brush, brambles, and inferior tree growth, or, as 
happens in some regions, the burning of the soil down to the rock, leaving an irredeemable waste. 
Thus the accumulation of centuries— it takes from three to five centuries to make a humus soil 1 
foot in depth — is destroyed in one brief season by carelessness. 

In the census of 1880 an attempt was made to ascertain the extent of the iires and the conse- 
quent loss in money value. Upon unsatisfactory and partial returns a total of over 10,000,000 
acres was reported burned, with a loss of over $25,000,000 in value. 

A canvass made by the Division of Forestry some years ago, which was highly unsatisfac- 
tory in its returns, these being vague and reporting only very partially, shows that in the districts 
reporting more than 12,000,000 acres of woodland were burned over during 1891. The report 
showed log timber killed 473,387,000 feet B. M. and damage from forest flres to other than forest 
property to the extent of $503,500, besides injury to valuable forest growth difficult to estimate. 
What proportion of the actual destruction these reports represent it is impossible to tell. They 
show, however, that in spite of the growing sentiment against such useless waste the nuisance 
has hardly abated in the last ten years. The loss from prairie flres to crops, tree growth, build- 
ings, and other property was reported by the same correspoudents at $1,633,525. 

In some years these losses by fire are, to be sure, much greater than in others, especially for 
given localities. Thus the flre which raged around Green Bay, in Wisconsin, during the Jatter 
part of September and beginning of October, 1871, is reported to have utterly devastated 400 
square miles of territory, several villages being wiped out, at least 1,000 people perishing, and 
3,000 being left destitute; the damage being estimated at $3,000,000, not including that of the 
thriving village of Peshtigo, with 2,000 inhabitants. 

Another flre in Wisconsin (around Phillips) and in neighboring Minnesota, still in our memory, 
occurred during the drought of July and August, 1894, the latter known as the great Hinckley 
flre, when the estimate of loss of lile exceeded 1,000, although it is only known that 437 were 
surely lost, while over 2,000 were made homeless, the material loss, not including the timber, 
being estimated at $750,000. 

Another most destructive flre occurred in 1881 in Michigan, when the fire ran over forty-eight 
townships in the peninsula between Lake Huron and Saginaw Bay, and a belt of timber country, 
partly settled, 60 miles in length and 10 to 30 miles in width, comprising a round million acres, 
was absolutely destroyed. The number of people killed was 138 and the value of property 
destroyed $2,000,000, not taking into account the timber and the loss to the future, for this region 
remains still to a large extent a mere brush waste. 

In comparison with our figures of bona fide consumption the direct loss in material is but a 
small matter, perhaps 2 to 3 per cent of the total value of forest products, but the indirect loss 
can hardly be overestimated. This lies not only iu the destruction of the fertility of the soil, but 
in discouraging more conservative forest management on the part of forest owners, while the 
constant risk from fire is an incentive to turn into cash as quickly as possible what is valuable iu 
the forest growth, leaving the balance to its fate. 

There is a crying need in the United States for economic reform in this matter of playing 
with fire. If the fire nuisance could be reduced to the unavoidable proportion, half the forestry 
problem would be solved. 

FOREST SUPPLIES. 

Having traced our consumption of forest supplies, it remains to consider the condition of the 
resource from which this consumption is to be drawn. We have to distinguish here between 
virgin supplies now ready for the ax — the standing timber — and new growth to supply future wants. 

Again we have, unfortunately, no statistics which would permit us to speak with assurance 
on this question. As regards the coniferous supplies of standing timber we have already made 
computations, showing that 100,000,000,000 feet for the North, 300,000,000,000 feet for the South, 
and less than 1,000,000,000,000 for the West, or altogether about 1,400,000,000,000 feet B. M., 
would have to be considered an extravagant estimate to meet the estimated cut of this class of 
materials of 30,000,000,000 feet per annum. 



FORESTS OF WISCONSIN, -^^ ' 

An estimate based on reported average cut per acre-winch, to be sure, is extremely variable, 
. :t,^v torn nrre to acre but also from time to time as the standard of marketable logs 
ra:ges-ruld b^in^ tlTtotal of the timber standing ready for the ax to about the following 
figures as very rough and probably very liberal approximations : ^^^^ ^ ^^ 

700,000,000,000 

Southern states 500,000,000,000 

Northern States ''''..'. 1,000,000,000,000 

Pacific coast '■"' 100,000,000,000 

Rocky Mountains 

2, 300, 000, 000, 000 

Total 

To arrive at these figures we have assumed that the amount of timber to be found on the total 
forest area reported a« given in the preceding table, may be set, as an average for every acre at 
iToO feet B Tfli ti,e Southern States, 6,000 feet for the Northern States, somewhat less than 
oo 000 feet for the Pacific coast States, and 2,000 feet for the Bocky Mountains. 
^''W admit that these are only guesses based upon personal «b-vation, convers^^^^^ 
lumbermen and such iucomplete records as could be inspected. It is believed that tl^e ^-gures 
arriearng toward overstatement rather than the other way. For the purpose of estimating 
Z ikel hood of ontinued supplies these figures will suffice to show that «-/esource is easily 
exhaustfble When it is considered that the bulk of the most important supplies (the coniferous 
Jrees'is to be found in the far West, thousands of miles away from our centers of civilization, the 
i«nect of the economic conditions is not assuring. ,. ,. 

Is to m^lacenient by young growth, of supplies cut, the possibility of estimate even is pre- 

cliidtr and we cln on y state in general that by culling the valuable kinds and leaving the ree 

^S'fZoZlvZd slfade the ground, as is done through all the hard-wood region, the reproduc- 

Lfofvrabls"eli'2osf prevented; that the reproduction from the stump in the coppice, 

Thrh IccupIb the largest share of the forest area of Xew England and the Eastern Atlantic 

""C ^re co"°;lT;cr,pti„. of a .pecm» area, the S«e of WIsconsio, itM...".d prese.. 

: efe™ :itlL b/proJ Filibeg Eotb Made i. 18»8 "j »'«>;»; P^p 
setTe in its general aspects for tie entire great lambeting section of tbe Horthwest. 

FOEBST CONDITIONS OF WISCONSIN. 

PTIYSIOOEAPHY. 

The iiart of the State lying north of a line from Green Bay to St. Croix, with the counties of 

Portage Wood and Jackson as^outhern outposts, contains practically the entire stand of lumber^ 

Sre trmbrof both pine and hardwoods in Wisconsin. Nine-tenths of the area P-^^^t^^J'^f 

lope rStg f oin southeast, south, and southwest to a flat divide whi^h runs ea.t and west c ose 

oTake Superior, and one-t^nth is occupied by a steeper slope from this divide to the lake About 

43pLcen7of ths a,ea is formed by an upland plain with low flats, not -- ^ If ^^^f {^^^^^i^,; 

tnd the rest is ordinary rolling country with considerable areas of low but steep rolling, "choppy, 

r't ho e? "'^^^^^^^^^^ la-1- Tbe drainage is mostly excellent in spite of the fact tbat tins area 

pot uoie, VI , . 1 12 per cent swamp laud. Over a large part of the 

r Z ■:":^:^^ Tlmihrol^ a dnvlng stream, and nearly all creeks have 

tm^S! Ov'r 25 ;^r ce^tlf the area is d'rained by the Chippewa and its tributaries, about 21 

iDer cent by the Wisconsin, and 14 per cent by the St. Croix. 

T^e soil and subsoil of about 50 per cent of this territory is a deep gray loam, more oi less 
mixed with Uvel a deep fertile red clay skirts Lake Superior and sandy lands fr-«-f-°;^^-^ 
^d southwestern edge, while three large islands of sandy land, one on the upper St. Croix, 
:;leirth?h;af waters of the Wisconsin, and the third stretching from the Menominee to 



138 FOUESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

Lake Shawano, interrupt the loam hind area. Classed from the farmer's standpoint, about 22 per 
cent of the land must be called good farm laud, about 40 per cent medium, while fully 37 per cent 
shoidd never be cleared of woods. The climate is cold, winters long, spring nearly wanting, 
summer short but warm, and fall long and cool. As indication of the climate it may be said that 
hickories practically do not occur; that white oaks are restricted to the southern and drier western 
parts; ordinary corn does not usually ripen in the greater portion of the territory, and a])ple 
trees have so far largely failed even in the more southern counties. 

OWNERSHIP. 

Of the 18,500,000 acres of territory under consideration less than 7 per cent is cultivated, 
about 24 per cent held by actual settlers, little more than 1.6 per cent belongs to the State, nearly 
5 per cent to the United States (2 per cent to Indians), little over 5 per cent to railway companies, 
and hardly 1 per cent is held by the counties, who are all anxious to rid themselves even of this 
small bit of communal property. Of the remaining 63 per cent lumbermen own about 80 per cent, 
i. e., 50 per cent of the entire area, or about 25 per cent of the area of the entire State belongs to 
them. 

THE FOREST AS IT WAS. 

Formerly nearly all of the 27 counties were covered with one uninterrupted forest, and only 
along the southern and southwestern limits did this forest give way to oak aud jack pine openings 
and brush prairies. On the gray loam lands was a mixed forest of hardwoods and white pine; on 
all sandy lands and also on most of the red clays of Lake Superior it was pinery proper, i. e., a 
forest of pines, principally white pine, some Norway, and small amount of jack i^ine, without 
hardwoods of lumber size. In the eastern half, which is more humid, the hemlock grew among 
the hardwoods on most of the gravelly clay and loam lands, but, like white pin« under these same 
conditions, it was found chiefly as mature timber, often nothing but old large trees scattered among 
the hardwoods, or here and there in compact bodies or groves, without any young growth to 
indicate active reproduction. Evidently both were here losers in the general struggle for posses- 
sion of the ground. Besides these three main conifers the balsam and spruce occurred thinly 
scattered, the latter chiefly in swamps. Most swamps were then timbered, the cedar prevailing 
in those of the Green Bay region; both cedar and tamarack together, one or the other alone, but 
more commonly mixed, occiipied the majority of swamps, while the tamarack, commonly as a pure 
but small growth, occupied all those of the southern and southwestern part, and even stocked the 
openings. 

The hardwood forest, heavier, denser, and composed of larger trees in the southern part, and 
on better soils, while quite thin and scrubby northward and on the lighter gravel lands, was made 
up of a small number of kinds. Its character varies on the two sides of nearly the same line 
which limits the hemlock. On the south and west of this liue it was au oak forest in which both 
white and red oak were abundant, oak was predominant, and the birch scarce or wanting; on the 
north and east of the line birch was the principal hardwood; the white oak was almost wanting, 
the red oak scattering, and often for many miles the forest was without an oak of any kind or size. 
Of the other hardwoods, basswood and maple were generally and rather evenly distributed; elnr 
in very variable i^roportioiis occurred in most hardwood forests, while ash, generally black ash, 
was mostly confined to the low flats and swamps. 

THE FOKBST AS IT IS. 

At present the pine is largely cut both from the mixed forests and in the pinery; entire uncut 
or virgin townships scarcely exist, and in every county large and small "pine slashings" or 
"stump i^rairies" are met. In the hardwoods, the oak and basswood, aud to some extent the elm, 
have been culled over large tracts, and entire counties, like Wood and Barron, have been logged 
over (not logged clean). Besides this the hardwood and still more the hemlock, about most pine 
slashings, but especially on all lighter soils where the pine predominated, have suffered from fire, 
and over large areas they are entirely fire killed. Many if not most of the swamps have been 
burned over, and present all stages from the dense green swamp forest to a bewildering tangle ol 
charred masses of dead and down timber. It is estimated that about 8,500,000 a('res, or 45 per 
cent of the total area, is cut-over land, most of which is also burned over and largely waste. 




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FORESTS OF WISCONSIN. 



139 



PRESENT SUPPLIES. 

Considering present supplies of pine, over 80 per cent of whicli are owned by lumbermen, it 
must be borne in mind that in spite of many years of logging but few townsliips of the better 
stocked regions, outside of settlements, are logged clean, and counties like Chippewa, Clark, 
Wood, and Marathon still contiuue to furnish large quantities of pine logs of all sizes, for it is not 
so much a lack of good logs as the fact that of late everything is cut clean which has reduced the 
average size of log to nearly half what it was twenty years ago. It is especially the fragmentary 
condition of the forest which makes general or wholesale estimates difficult, and 'causes the 
opinions on pine supplies to vary within sxich wide limits. "Most men know little about what 
their neighbors have," and "the man whose pine supply is nearly at an end, and who finds it hard 
to buy more stumpage, thinks that everybody shares his trouble." These two statements, vari- 
ously expressed, may be heard in many places, and fully indicate the difficulty. 

The following figures of merchantable supplies still standing, secured by the methods above 
indicated, are probably quite near the truth, though the total appears still somewhat conservative: 

standing pine, liemlocJc, and hardwood saw timber in the State of IVisconsin in 1S9S. 



CoTiiity. 


Million feet B. M. 


County. 


Million feet B. M. 


Pine. 


Hemlock. 


Hardwood. 


Pine. 


Hemlock. 


Hardwood. 




300 
150 

3,000 
200 
500 
200 

3,500 
25 
50 
150 
500 
350 
100 
150 
250 
200 


300 


600 
260 
350 
200 
1,260 
650 
700 
400 




1,500 
100 

1,000 
240 
60 
200 

1,500 
300 
200 

1,500 
350 
100 


240 
320 
10 

so' 

500 
480 
550 
950 
120 


240 






280 




280 




24 




Polk 


300 




640 
30 




100 






500 






960 


Dunn 






550 






Taylor 


950 




225 
480 
275 


385 
960 
275 
50 
875 
850 
1,200 




150 






220 


Trnn 


Wood 


40 


300 






300 




700 
850 
600 


Total 








T fnpnln 


16, 665 


7,640 


13, 889 













aEau Claire is only considered for its pine and St. Croix and Pierce only for hardwoods— the tliree counties being really outside of the 
scope of this work. 

The detailed estimates given by woodsmen of hemlock and still more of hard woods, vary 
much more than those of pine. Lack of experience in hard wood, custom of estimating only certain 
kinds, and discriminating selections in the hardwood markets, which consider only the better 
sizes or qualities, have led to great diffei'ences in figures on yield. The general results above 
given are very conservative for both hemlock and hard woods in spite of the fact that they represent 
rather the higher than the average estimates. A more correct view of present supplies may be 
obtained from a study of the following figures, in which all the wood supplies are arranged in 
three classes, a portion of the hemlock which, at present rating, is not real saw timber being thrown 
together with the cedar and part of tamarack and jack pine as a second class. Of these figures 
it may be said that of the 92,000,000 cords of hardwood fully one-third, or 30,000,000 cords, an 
equivalent of 15,000,000,000 feet B. M., might still be placed with saw timber. 

Wood supplies classified. 



Character of wood. 



CONIFEROUS. 



White pine 

Red (Norway) pin 

Jack pine 

Hemlock 

Tamarack 

Cedar 

Spruce 



Million Million 

fcetB.M. feetB.U. 

14, 500 



Secondary 

timber. 
Bolt sizes, 
post, poles, 
ties, etc. 



1,700 
2, 500 
1, 400 



Millions. 
1, 000 
1.500 
5, 000 
3.000 



Character of wood. 



HAEDWOODS, 

Oak 

Basswood 

Birch 

Elm 

Ash 

Maple 

Others 

Total 

Grand total 



Million 
feet B. M. 
1,380 
3,500 
3,300 
2,200 



timber. 
Bolt sizes, 
post, poles, 

ties, etc. 



Million 
feet B. M. 



92, 000 
104, 000 



140 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



The above estimates of jack piue, spruce, balsam, tamarack, and cedar must be regarded as 
rough approximations, since the areas stocked with these timbers are very difficult to ascertaiu. 

What these supplies of piue have been in the past may be inferred from the following calcu- 
latious, the basis for which have been verified for large areas on the Chippewa, Black, Wisconsin, 
and Wolf rivers, and may be supposed to understate the truth by at least 10 to 15 per cent. 

Prohable original stand and present stand of mercliantatle pine in the State of Wi 



Kiver basin. 


Number 
of towns 
stocked. 


Yield per 
to-wn. 


Yield on 
river. 


Yield on 
river in 
jier cent 
of total. 


Present 
stand. 


Kemarks. 




40 
100 
40 
175 
172 
00 
28 
27 
47 
76 


225 
125 
200 
200 
175 
125 
125 
150 
150 
150 
200 


Million/eet. 
9,000 

12, 500 
8,000 

35,000 

30, 100 
7,600 
3,500 
4,050 
7,050 

11, 400 
1,400 


6.9 

10.7 
6.1 
26.7 
22.9 
5.7 
2.3 
3 

5.4 
8.7 
1 


Million/t. 

270 

3,560 

475 

3,000 

2,575 

470 

150 

600 

1,500 

4,200 






Contains much .)ack-pine barrens. 












Includes heiivy hardwood forest. 




Much hardwood forest. 




Do. 








Only AVisconsin side. 


















772 




129, 500 




10, 700 













Of these 129,500,000,000 feet there is approximately— 

Billion feet. 

Standing at present 16. 7 

Cut between 1873 and 1898 66 

Probable cut 1840 to 1873 20 

Total accounted for 102. 7 

Leaving a balance of nearly 27,000,000,000 feet wasted, to which must be added several 
billions as growth since 1840. Of this enormous waste certainly more than 60 per cent, or 
about 20,000,000,000 feet, is due to fire, the rest failing to storms, old age, and waste in cutting. 
This is white pine only. 

Besides this injury to pine, fire has killed more than 5,000,000,000 feet of hemlock, at least 
1,000,000,000 feet of cedar, and several billions of hard woods, besides large quantities of tama- 
rack, and in addition has killed stands of young sapling pine (under 8 inches diameter) covering 
many thousand acres which to-day would furnish 5,000,000,000 feet and more of merchantable 
material. 

PEESENT GROWTH. 

The amount of timber which at the present time is growing each year on the stocked portion 
of this area may very safely be placed at about 925,000,000 feet B. M., and is distributed among 
the several kinds of timber as follows : 

Million feet. 

White and Norway pine 250 

Jack pine 30 

Hemlock 75 

Tamarack 30 

Cedar 20 

Spruce and balsam 20 

Eard woods 500 

Total 925 

Of this growth the greater part is balanced by decay or natural waste, which in all wildwoods 
necessarily equals growth when large areas and long periods are considered. For white pine, 
Norway, and jack piue, also for tamarack and cedar in Wisconsin, nearly half the present growth 
takes place in forests of young, immature timber, since this largely ijrevails. With the old pine 
mixed in the hard- wood forest, and especially with hemlock, decay proceeds faster than growth; 
for spruce and balsam an increase can hardly be assumed, and even in the hardwoods the growth 
and decay is practically in a state of equilibrium. 



FORESTS OF WISCONSIN. 



141 



PRESENT EXPLOITATION AND MAEKET. 

At the present time logging of pine is going on in nearly every part of this territory. The 
average annual cut for the last ten years has been about 3,000,000,000 feet; and pine land, pine 
stumpage, and logs find a ready market everywhere. 

Hemlock is peeled to quite an extent, the bark being mostly used by local tanneries; small 
quantities are cut to lumber, chiefly dimension stuff, and considerable quantities are converted 
into railway ties, mining timber, etc., and also into pulp, but on the whole this material is still 
very much underrated. 

The hardwoods are logged and sawn mostly on a small scale. Several hundred small mills 
are cutting hardwoods, mostly into lumber, much into special sizes and shapes, and large quantities 
are iised for cooperage and wagon stock. Exact figures of the total annual cut in hardwoods are 
wanting, but 500,000,000 feet is a safe estimate. Spruce and to a less extent balsam are bought 
for pulp; cedar finds ready market and is extensively cut everywhere for posts, poles, ties, and 
shingle timber, but tamarack still remains tabooed, and even sappy Norway poles for piling are 
preferred to this much sui^erior material so that but little tamarack is cut. 

From tables just published by the Iforth western Lumberman the following approximation of 
consumption of lumber is derived. This does not take into account all the scatterred domestic 
consumption and remains as all such statistics necessarily do, somewhat below the truth: 

White pine, Norway pine, and hemloclc lumier cut in IVisconsin in 1S97. 



Locality. 


Lumber. 


Shingles. 


Lath. 


Locality. 


Lumber. 


Shingles. 


Lath. 




M. feet. 
167,455 
104, 132 

185, 203 

50, 217 
398, 744 
274, 879 

126,518 


Thousand. 
65, 943 
35, 967 

45, 744 

10, 000 
85, 920 
138, 382 

78, 661 


Thousand. 
25, 003 

14, 478 

33,931 

5,300 
51, 634 
55, 250 

15, 214 




M. feet. 
265, 350 
36, 670 
228, 800 


Thousand. 
30, 764 
47, 343 
70, 000 
11,000 
25, 000 
65, 000 
41, 000 


Thousand. 








Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis 


Mills below Minneapolis a. 


60, 000 


Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Sault 
Ste. Marie (Soo) -. 








Green Bay shore at Menominee c 
Mills below Menominee 


167, 000 
129, 000 


30, 000 








2, 359, 968 


750, 724 


345, 548 













a One-third of total cut reported credited to Wisconsin. b One-half of total cut reported credited to Wisconsin, 

c Proportion of cut credited to Wisconsin. 
Note. — Of the above total cut, 125,000,000 feet wa.3 hemlock. Besides this there is more than one-quarter billion feet of hardwoods 
recorded from mills, which can safely be increased to half a billion for unrecorded cuts at small country mills in the woods. 

FUTURE OF PINE MILLING. 

How long the present sujiply of pine will last is impossible to foretell. As the price of 
stumpage increases and the number of owners (and with this the opportunity to buy pine) 
decreases, one mill after another drops out. With the concentration of ownership a reduction in 
output will be the consequence which will continue to the last (if a "last" there be), so that even 
the present stand is likely not to be cut out in eight to ten years, as might be inferred from a 
comparison of present supply and cut, but may easily last twenty and more years. 



FOREST AND COMMONWEALTH. 

The importance of the forest for the State of Wisconsin is very great, and the statement that 
"the forest industries have built every foot of railway and wagon road, nearly every town, school, 
and church, and cleared half of the improved land in north Wisconsin," is by no means an 
extravagant exaggeration. 

In 1890, according to the census, the forest products at first hand, including lumber and all 
sawn timber; ties, hewn and round timber (not saw logs), poles, piling, posts, etc.; cooperage, 
furniture and wagon stock in the rough, and not including tan bark, pulp wood, and the immense 
quantities of timber used for firewood, fencing, and farm use and construction, represented the 
enormous sum of $40,400,000. 

If to this is added only $10,000,000 as representing the value of the wood for home use, fuel, 
fencing, farm construction, etc., the products of the forest at first hand equal in value one-third 
of the products of agriculture. And to these alone they are really comparable, since in most 



142 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

manufactures large quantities of material appear repeatedly, often with slight or no mocliflcations, 
as output of the same manufacture, as when a piece of costly sheet metal is first credited to the 
rolling mill, then to the tank or boiler maker, who merely cuts aud rivets it into shape, and finally, 
-without any modification at all, reappears as part of a distilling outfit or steam machinery, and 
thus the same highly manufactured article appears three separate times as items of the iron 
industry. 

The sawmilling industry of the State alone represents a capital of about $84,000,000, or equal 
to more than one-eighth of the total valuation of taxable property of the State. The same 
industry pays a tax of $681,000, a sum equal to half the entire State taxes. It pays $3,000,000 
for running expenses aside from wages, more than $15,000,000 for wages and contracts for bring- 
ing the raw material to the mill, besides expending nearly $1,000,000 for the maintenance of teams. 

Besides these establishments, active in the mere exploitation of the woods, there are planing 
and pulp mills, furniture, cooperage, carriage, and car shops, the value of whose finished products 
in wooden materials amount to over $25,000,000 per year. The greater part of these is directly 
dependent for continuance on the forest supplies of the State. 

FORESTS AND WATER PLOW. 

The value of the forests in tempering the rigors of a northern continental climate and in 
maintaining a more uniform water flow by regulating drainage conditions can not here be consid- 
ered; suface it to say that the Fox River is failing, that the "June freshets," formerly a regular 
phenomenon of all the driving streams of this area, no longer occur, that hundreds of small 
swamps have become fields and meadows without a foot of ditching, and that miles of corduroy 
roads and roadways paved with poles and logs remain as unused relics, reminders of a moister 
state of things. 

FUTURE OF SUPPLIES AND MILLING. 

What the future will do for these important forests is difiacult to say. That the pine forests 
are fast disappearing, that the hardwoods are being cut and their productive area reduced, is 
evident to everyone. 

A closer examination shows that the hemlock growth can not be depended upon to continue 
itself by unaided natural reproduction. It has failed to reproduce for a long time. It also appears 
that the hardwoods, though perfectly able under normal conditions to hold their own and continue 
as forests, have not done so; that, especially on all lighter soils, the burned over lands are covered 
with runty, unpromising remnants, unable to keep out weeds aud grass from the soil, injured by 
fire, and scarcely able to maintain the semblance of a woodland. 

That pine, especially white pine, is jterfectly capable not only to continue as forest, but also 
to reclothe old burned-over slashings on all kinds of soil, is amply proven by the numerous extensive 
young groves which may be seen, especially about Shawano, Grand Eapids, Black Eiver Falls, and 
along the Wisconsin and Chippewa, and which occur in every county of north Wisconsin, probably 
aggregating not less than 200,000 acres. But it is equally certain that the great mass of pine 
slashings have remained and will continue to remain barren wastes, and that of the 8,000,000 acres 
of cut-over lands in north Wisconsin not one-tenth is stocked with growing timber. And even the 
swamp woods have no future, for it is here, among the tall marsh grass aud masses of dead poles, 
that most of the fires start. 

WHAT IS LOST TO THE STATE. 

In this way an area now measuring about 8,000,000 acres and rapidly increasing in extent 
remains unproductive. Counting only 20 cubic feet, or 100 feet B. M., as the annual growth per 
acre on lands entirely without any care save protection against fire, the State of Wisconsin loses 
annually by this condition of things 800,000,000 feet B. M. of marketable saw timber; nor is this 
all, for even with primitive management this amount could largely be increased. 

RESUJI^ OF CONDITIONS. 

We have, then, briefly, the following state of affair^: Of the 18,500,000 acres under considera- 
tion not more than 7 per cent are under cultivation; the balance is forest, brush, swamps, or 



FORESTS OF AVISCONSIN. 143 

waste. About 8,000,000 acres are cut over and practically exhausted for the present. Of available 
timber supplies a round 30,000,000,000 feet B. M. of coniferous material and some 14,000,000,000 
feet of hardwoods, besides 100,000,000 cords of cord wood, are to be found on the 9,000,000 acres 
remaining. 

The present consumption of saw timber alone may be set down as over 3,000,000,000 feet, not 
including railroad ties, pulp wood, posts, i^oles, and other boltvsize material, while the cut of 
coniferous material alone for the year 1897 may be placed at 2,500,000,000 feet B. M. The wood 
consumption altogether equals in value one-third the products of agriculture in the State. The 
lumber and wood-working industries relying upon this crop represent a capital of over $100,000,000, 
the lumber mills alone paying half the State taxes, and in wages and running expenses over 
$25,000,000. Not less than 20,000,000,000 feet of pine timber have been wasted by fires since 
lumbering began, about sixty years ago. The detrimental influence of forest destruction on 
waterflow of rivers is unmistakable. 

As to the condition of the forest and cut-over lands, it may be stated that there are no entire 
townships which remain uncalled and in virgin condition. Of the 8,000,000 acres of cut-over land 
not one-tenth is stocked with growing timber, and this whole acreage has become unproductive. 
About 500,000 acres comprise the really promising young jjine growths in parcels of any extent. 
While pine reproduces wherever fire does not prevent, the great mass of pine slashings have 
remained and will continue to remain barren wastes under the present policies. 

WASTE I>AND AND AGRICULTURE. 

The injunction that this land is needed for agriculture, that it soon will all be settled, and 
that even the sandy soils produce potatoes and are pi'ofitably farmed by improved methods may 
well be answered by a concrete case: The old settled counties of Waushara, Adams, and 
Marinette have an aggregate area of 1,114,000 acres, their improved land amounts to 340,000 
acres, leaving fully 70 per cent, or 804,000 acres, in brush and waste lands. In 1895 these counties 
supported wood industries whose products amounted to the pitiful sum of $13,000, and probably 
the material for these was imported, instead of having 80,000,000 feet of pine to sell, which, under 
simple methods of care, might have been derived from these brush and waste lands. 

How soon the 17,000,01)0 acres of wild land in northern Wisconsin will be settled and improved 
no one can tell. The likelihood is that at least 10,000,000 acres, and among these much of the 
best lauds, will remain unproductive brush land for fifty years to come. 

Remedies. — What advantage it is to the county and State to have unproductive sand lands 
settled by poor and ignorant people and supijort farms " without barns'' can not here be discussed. 
In the same way it is not here contemplated to enter into the question of communal property, i. e., 
whether it might not be well for a county, which can get land for the mere taking, to hold a few 
townships as county forest, and have these county forests at least defray the county expenses, 
giving at the same time work to many people. 

What can be done to save the enormous loss to the State is clear — the land must be restocked 
and young timber must be given a chance to grow. What the fire has done to the pine supply is 
aj)j)arent from the conservative figures of original stand of piue. 

This same work of destruction continues during this very fall (1897); many hundreds of acres 
of young sapling pine were ruined by fire, and it will require many years before the opening up 
of settlements and roads suflices to suppress the fire fiend. From this it is clear, and the fact is 
fully conceded by all persons conversant with the conditions of these woods, that the first and 
most imiDortant step in the right direction consists in the proper organization of an eflicient fire 
police. 

That a diversity of opinion as to the methods and even the possibility of suppressing the fires 
should exist is but natural. To most people the entire subject is foreign, the problem too large; 
to many even well-informed and experienced men the forest fire is an enormous affair, a calamity 
which man is entirely unable to combat. jSTevertheless, the best informed men, nearly all woods- 
men (" cruisers " and loggers), whose opinions were sought in this connection expressed themselves 
in favor of such a policy and certain of good results. The beginning of a forest-fire protection by 
the State is laid, but it requires further organization to be successful. 



144 FOEESTIiY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPAETMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

Without eularging on this important subject, it may be of interest to point out a few funda- 
mental facts which may help to shape a policy: 

(1) All fires have a small beginning. The Peshtigo fire, by far the most terrific ever experi- 
enced in Wisconsin, was liuown to be burning and gathering headway for fully two weeks before it 
broke out in the final and then perfectly unmanageable form. The Phillips flre was heard and the 
smoke seen and felt in the town for days before it reached the village and converted it into ruins. 

(2) All fires stop of their own accord after they have run for but a moderate distance, 
evidently finding obstacles which gradually reduce their power. The Peshtigo fire did not involve 
the fourth part of Marinette, the Phillips tire not a fourth of Price County, and a most intense 
fire in northern Chippewa, which when at its best sent firebrands across a lake over half a mile 
wide, did not keep on running, but stopped without going much, if at all, beyond the county line. 

(3) The majority of fires are small fires. When the "whole country is on fire," it is not one 
fire, but hundreds of separate fires, all or nearly all of which have had their origin in carelessness. 

(4) It is carelessness and not malice, and it is more carelessness of letting fires go than of 
starting them, which has resulted in the enormous losses mentioned before. 

(5) Forest fires are both prevented and fought successfully in the wild forests of India, as 
well as in all parts of Europe, in localities where hundreds of acres of the young saphng pine with 
their fine and largely dead and dried-up branches (along the lower part of the stem) stand so thick 
that it is almost impossible to pass through, and where, in addition, poverty and chagrin among a 
dense population living close to the confines of the woods furnish willful and malicious incendiaries. 
To the greater part of opponents of a determined effort to cope with the problem, it may also be 
pointed out that for this country experience is as yet almost entirely wanting; that in New York 
State and in Maine the fire police has done well; that it is impossible for anyone to say at present 
just how successful the fire police of north Wisconsin could be. The success depends, of course, 
upon methods and organization, measures and men. 

Reforestation. — What maybe done to restock the land will vary from place to place, according 
as the land is well under way to reclothe itself, or is a bare waste, or is a tangle of debris or covered 
with worthless thickets of fire-damaged woods. This work may be done at once or by piecemeal, 
it may be done thoroughly or roughly, it may assist nature to a small or large degree, and any 
detailed directions are beyond the scope of this report. 

To those who are frightened at the mere idea of planting forests, and who scorn European 
methods as impracticable in this country, it may be of interest to know that in the government 
forests of Saxony, which from 400,000 acres yield an annual net revenue of $1,900,000 continuously, 
and where forests are largely planted with nursery stock, the sylvicultural work of planting, sow- 
ing, etc., all told, amounts on an average for the entire woods to 10 cents jjer acre, and involves 
only 6 per cent of the total expenses, all logging operations included. 

Whether similar efforts will pay here as long as the laud is held by private owners whose 
fortunes are only of to-day, and whose heirs will prefer to i^arcel the land out to inexperienced 
settlers, can not here be considered. The experience abroad and also in this country indicates that 
che State must at least undertake the most difficult and unprofitable parts, and that the greatest 
good to the greatest number lies in State ownership of forests. New York waited a long time to see 
private owners manage its woods rationally, but has found itself compelled at last to buy the land 
and to establish a forest organization to keep its mountains from being converted into desert 
brush lands and its streams from being alternately dry branches and mud torrents. 

THE NAVAL STORE INDUSTRY.' 

The most important indnstrj^ in the United States concerned in the utilization of by-products 
from the forest is the tanbark industry, which was at great length canvassed and discussed in 
volume 3, Reports on Forestry. Next to it in importance stands the turpentine or naval stoi'e 
industry, which is practically confined to the ijineries of the Southern States within a belt of about 
100 miles in width along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts from North Carolina to Louisiana. 

The imiiortaiice of this latter industry is found not only in the value of its products, namely, 
nearly $10,000,000 worth per year, furnishing the bulk of the naval stores used in all the world, 



' Reprinted mostly from Report of the Chief of Division of Forestrj^ for 1892. 



Plate XXVIII. 





NAVAL STORE INDUSTRY. 145 

but also iu the indirect iuflueiu-e whicli this industry exerts on the condition and future of one of 
our richest forest resources. 

Owing to the wasteful and careless manner iu which this industry is carried on and the 
disastrous conflagrations that follow in its train, which destroy thousands of acres of the most 
valuable timber every year, while the margin of profit to the turpentine gatherer is comparatively 
small, this industry may be considered the most unprofitable to the nation at large in spite of the 
large aggregate value of its products. This is not so by necessity, but due to faulty methods. 
The object of this discussion is to create a more general interest iu the industry, give information 
regarding its methods, show its defects, and pave the way toward improvement and more rational 
procedure. 

One of the most important results of the investigations of the Division of Forestry was the 
establishment of the fact that the bleeding of the Southern i)ines for the jiurpose of gathering 
naval stores does not, as has been generally maintained, affect the quality of their timber. Even 
the claim that tapped or bled trees lose their durability does not find any support in the chemical 
analyses made, which seem to prove that there is no change in the condition or chemical constitu- 
tion of the heartwood due to bleeding; that the turpentine collected must come from the sap, 
where aloue it is found in a condition permitting it to flow. Nor is there any physiological reason 
for assuming any change. 

^ But while there is no deterioration of the timber due to the process of bleeding, it can be said 
with truth that thei-e is no more destructive agency at work in the longleaf pineries of the South 
than the turpentine industry, and that without necessity. The damage and destruction do not 
result directly, although by the boxing of immature trees a considerable loss to the future is 
involved, and by the crude boxing much of the most valuable part of the tree is needlessly wasted; 
but often indirectly from fires, which annually sweep the turpentine orchards and destroy millions 
of feet of valuable timber, the resin collected on the scars of the trees rendering them highly 
inflammable. The trees which are not killed by the fire are soon destroyed by bark beetles and 
pine borers, which find a breeding place in the trees which, after the injury by fire, are blown down 
by the wind. "Hence," says Dr. Mohr, "the forests invaded by the turpentine industry present 
in five or six years after they are abandoned a picture of ruin and desolation painful to behold, 
and iu view of the destruction of the seedlings and younger growth season after season all hope 
for the restoration of the forest is excluded." 

It appears from the report of Dr. Mohr, agent of this division, that in 1890 over 2,000,000 
acres of pine forest which were in orchard must have been exposed to this danger, and that every 
year adds between 600,000 and 800,000 acres of new orchard. 

PRODUCTS OF THE TURPENTINE INDUSTRY. 

Kaval stores. — Under the name of naval stores are comprised all the resinous products and 
their derivatives that are gathered from coniferous trees. The name comes probably from the fact 
that the bulk of these products is or was used in the economy of ship construction and ship 
management, although now, with iron as a substitute for wood in shipbuilding, other industries 
may consume pei'haps a larger portion. These products are: 

(1) Sesin or crude turpentine. — This is the crude material obtained by "tapiiing" or "bleeding" the trees, a 
mixture of resinous material and oil of turpentine, iu whicli the resins are partly disaob'ed, partly suspended. 
According to the species from which it is obtained, the consistency of the resin varies, depending upon the relative 
proportion of hard resin particles and oil; the more oil, the more liquid is the resin. 

The "fine" turpentine or resin, which comes from larch and fir or balsam trees, is semiliquid, more or less 
transparent and clear, and remains clear on exposure to the air. The "common" turpentine, which is furnished by 
the other trees tapped for it, is usually not at all transparent or clear, but is semiliquid or hard, the fluidity being 
lost by evaporation of the oil on exposure. 

Most resins are yellow or brown iu color, darkening on exposure; most of them possess a characteristic odor 
and taste; they have a specific weight of nearly 1, and when hard melt readily at low temperatures. They are not 
soluble in water, but readily so iu alcohol, ether, or oil of turpentine; they are free from nitrogen, poor in oxygen, 
and rich in carbon, aud of somewhat acid reaction. With alkalies the so-called resin soap is formed. 

The best grades of turpentine are usually obtained (not necessarily so) in the product of the first: j'ear, known 
as "virgin dip" or "soft white gum;" in the following years it becomes " yellow dip," being darker colored and less 
liquid every year, while "scrape" or "h.ard turpentine" is the product hardened on the tree and scraped ofi". By 
distillation of the crude resiu are obtained the important resinous products of trade. 

(2) Spirits of turpentine or oil of turpentine. — This is the liquid distillate from the crude resin. When pure, it is 

H. Doc. 181 10 



146 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

a mixture of hydrocarbons of the formula, CmHie; hut the impure product from the still contains also other hydro- 
carbons and acids. To rectify it, it is mixed with limewater and again distilled; yet, according to the source from 
■which derived, the nil of turpentine possesses ditferent qualities. Freshly prepared oil of turpentine, especially 
that from virgin trees worked for the first time, is colorless, tasteless, a thin fluid, of peculiar smell, of low specific 
wein^ht (0.855-0.875), and its boiling point at 300-340° F. Most of the oils of turpentine of the trade polarize light 
to the left, but the American oil polarizes it to the right, and may thereby be recognized. 

The oil evaporates very readily in ordinary temperature, and by oxidation thickens until hard, becomes yellow, 
and shows sour reaction. It burns with a strongly sooty flame ; it is insoluble in water, but soluble in alcohol. It 
is a good solvent for many resins, wax, fats, caoutchouc, sulphur, and phosphorus. In the arts it is used mainly for 
the preparation of varnishes, in paints, and in the rubber industry. It is also used for illuminating purposes as pine 
oil, or mixed with alcohol as camphene, and under other names. It has a wide use in medicine internally and 
externally. It is often used in the adulteration or imitation of various essentia] oils. 

(3) Rosin or colox>hony. — This is the residue remaining from the distillation of the crude turpentine or resin. 
According to the nature of the crude turpentine, which depends on the number of seasons the tree has been worked 
it shows different properties. It is either perfectly transparent, translucent, or almost opaque; in color, from pale 
yellow, golden or reddish yellow, through all shades to deep dark brown, almost black; and of diiferent degrees of 
hardness; some soft enough to take the impression of a finger nail, and some so hard that only iron will make an 
impression. 

The hard colophony or rosin is almost without smell or taste, of glassy gloss, very brittle, easily powdered. It 
becomes soft at about 176° F. and melts between 194° and 212° F. It is soluble in the same solvents as the crude 
resin; its specific weight is 1.07. Rosin is used in the manufacture of varnish, sealing wax, putty, soap, paper, etc. 

In the American market the following grades are distinguished : WG — window glass ; WW — water white, the 
lightest colored grade, obtained from virgin dippings and under special care at the distillery; N — extra pale; M — 
pale; K — low pale; I— good No. 1; H — No. 1; F — good No. 2; E — No. 2; D — good strain; C — strain; B — common 
strain; A — black. 

By dry distillation of the rosin are obtained the following three products: 

(a) Light rosin oil, which is used in the fabrication of varnishes. 

(6) Heavy rosin oil, which is used in the numufacture cf printers' ink, machine oil, axle grease, etc. 

These oils, known in commerce as pale oil, pine oil, ink oil, etc., are of a light reddish or brown color, more or 
less fluorescent, with a specific gravity of 0.98 to 1; of slight odor but characteristic taste. The distillation is 
carried on at a dull, red heat, yielding about 85 per cent of rosin oil. They are composed of a mixture of several 
hydrocarbons of indefinite nature (colophene, heptin, etc.), and contain from to over 15 per cent of resinous acids. 
They are insoluble in water, slightly so in alcohol, can not be saponified, but form unstable compounds with slaked 
lime and other bases. The rosin grease made by stirring slaked lime finely suspended in water is an excellent lubri- 
cant, adapted especially for metal bearings in machinery and wagons. Mixed with sweet oil, rape oil, or the denser 
mineral oils, it is used for the preparation of lubricating oils. These oils are also used in the manufacture of varnish, 
in the preparation of cheap paints used to cover metal, roofs, etc. 

(e) Common pitch. — This is the residue from tiie dry distillation of rosin; a glossy, black, brittle body, which 
is used in the manufacture of the common ship-chandlers' pitch, used for calking of vessels, shoemakers' pitch, and 
black pigments. Pitch is also obtained by boiling tar down until it has lost about one-third or more of its weight. 
The navy pitch of commerce has more or less rosin of lowest grades added to it. It commands a price of about 
•$1.50 i>er barrel. 

(4) Brewers' pitch. — This is used for pitching beer kegs and barrels, and is obtained when the distillation of the 
crude turpentine is stopped, before all the oil has been distilled. It therefore contains a certain quantity of oil of 
turpentine; if too much, the pitch foams when melted and imparts a disagreeable, sharp taste to the beer, while 
with too little oil the pitch becomes brittle aud does not adhere to the barrel. The best quality of this product is 
obtained from the larch, and is produced mostly in Tyrol, but there is quite an amoirnt of brewers' pitch made in 
the Southern pineries. 

(5) Tar. — This is not exactly a by-product of the turpentine orchard, but is mostly a product of destructive 
distillation of the wood itself. Most of the tar in the United States is made in North Carolina, where the industry 
has been largely carried on from earliest colonial times. In other parts of the Southern coast ]iine belt it is only 
produced for home consumption. Perfectly dry wood of the longleaf pine — dead limbs aud trunks perfectly seasoned 
on the stump, from which the sapwood has rotted — are cut into suitable billets, piled into a conical stack in a 
circular pit lined with clay, the center communicating by a depressed channel with a receptacle — a hole in the 
ground — at a distance of 3 or 4 feet from the pile. The pile is covered with sod and earth, and otherwise treated 
aud managed like a charcoal pit, being fired froni apertures at the base, giving only enough draft to maintain slow 
smoldering combustion. After the ninth or tenth day the flow of tar begins, and continues for several weeks. It is 
dipped from the pit into barrels of 320 pounds net, standard weight, mostly made by the tar burner himself from the 
same pine. From one cord of dry "fat" wood or "lightwood" from 40 to 50 gallons of tar are obtained. 

There is but little profit in the business, except that it employs labor in remote districts at a season (winter) 
when there is but little else to do. The price of tar, at present quoted as low as $1.05 per barrel at Wilmington, 
N. C, has been depressed, especially since considerable quantities of tar are produced incidentally in the destructive 
distillation of wood iu iron retorts for charcoal purposes. 

(6) Oil of tar. — This is obtained by distillation of the tar. It is a complex mixture of hydrocarbons with some 
wood alcohol and a small qnantity of creosote, often more or less covereil by empyreumatic substances, with adensity 
of 0.841 to 0.877. It is used as an insecticide and for various external applications in domestic and veterinary practice. 



NAVAL STOKE INDUSTRY. 147 

SOURCES OF SUPPLY. 

Naval stores are beiag produced on a commercial scale mainly in Austria, France, on the 
island of Corsica, in Spain, Portugal, Galicia, Russia, and the United States. The largest amount 
of European turpentine comes from the black x^ine (Pimis laricio) and the maritime pine {Pinus 
maritima). The first of the two, which yields the largest amount, is tapped especially in Lower 
Austria, France, and Corsica. The latter, which does not furnish much resin, is tapped especially 
in France, between Bayonne and Bordeaux, where about one and a half million acres are covered 
with it; also in Spain, Portugal, and on the North African coast. In Germany, especially in the 
Black Forest, the Norway spruce is tapped, but not to any great extent. In Southern Italy and 
the Italian Alps the larch furnishes resiu of excellent quality, although small quantities per tree 
and year, which is known in trade as Venetian turpentine. Occasionally, and especially in Galicia, 
Eussia, the Scotch pine and fir are tapped; the turpentine from the latter species which is bled in 
Alsace is known as "Strasburg" turpentine. The Hungarian turpentine, so called, conies from 
the Carpathian Mountains and is derived from the pine known as Pinus pumilio. 

In the United States a considerable amount of naval stores used to be collected in colonial 
times from the pitch i^ine of the North Atlantic States [Pinus rigida) ; but this species has been so 
far exhausted and forest conditions so changed that this industry is now practically extinct in the 
North and the business of turpentine gathering is confined entirely to the South. There are three 
pines in the South which yield resinous pi'oducts abundantly, the longieaf pine (Pinus palustris), 
the loblolly [Pinus tcecla), and the Cuban pine (Pinus heterophyUa). The botanical features, their 
distribution, value as timber trees, etc., may be found in an earlier part of this report. 

The loblolly and Cuban pine yield a more fluid resin, rich in volatile oil, which when distilled 
leaves a smaller proportion of the solid rosiu. The resin of these trees runs so rapidly that it is 
exhausted during the first season, and hence it is not considered profitable to work them, although 
they are always tapped where they are found intermixed with the longieaf pine. It is, however, 
possible, nay probable, that with more careful methods, difiering from those now employed, these 
two species may be made more productive and that the compact forests of the loblolly in Arkansas, 
Louisiana, and Texas may still become valuable sources of naval stores as well as the Cuban pine 
forests of Florida. 

At present the longieaf pine furnishes the bulk of naval stores, not only for the United 
States, but for the whole world, the production of France and Austria, the only other producers 
of naval stores, furnishing hardly one-tenth of the total production. 

HISTORICAL NOTES AND STATISTICS. 

The first production of naval stores from longieaf pine took place in North Carolina. The 
tapping of the trees for their resin and the production of pitch and tar was resorted to by the 
earliest settlers as a source of income, and during the later colonial times it had risen to a profit- 
able industry, which furnished the largest part of the exports of the colony. In the three years— 
1768 to 1770—88,111 barrels of crude turpentine, 20,640 barrels of pitch, and 88,360 barrels of tar 
were on the average annually exported to the mother country, representing a value of $215,000 in 
our present currency. In its infancy the manufacture of naval stores was confined to the district 
between Tar and Cape Fear rivers, with Wilmington and Newberii for shipping ports. Most of 
the turpentine or crude resin was shipped to England. Later the distillation of spirits of turpen- 
tine was carried on to a small extent in Northern cities as well as in North Carolina. Up to the 
year 1844 fully one-half of the crude product was subjected to distillation in the latter State, 
the process being etiected in clumsy iron retorts. The introduction of the copper still in 1834 led 
to a largely increased yield of volatile oil, and this industry received a strong impetus. The 
number of stills at the ports was increased, and the production grew yet further shortly after- 
wards, caused by the new demand for spirits of turpentine in the manufacture of india-rubber 
goods, and turpentine orcharding was rapidly extended to the south and west of its original 
limit. As early as 1832 rectified spirits of turpentine was used for an illuminator, and for that 
purpose came into general use in 1842, either alone in the rectified state or mixed with a certain 
quantity of strong alcohol, under the names of camphene and burning fluid, furnishing the 
cheapest light until replaced by the products of petroleum. The large consumption of spirits of 
turpentine in this way caused such an increase iu its production that the residuary product, rosin, 



148 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



was largely iu excess of the demand, leading to a great depreciation of this article. The conse- 
quent reduction of the profits of the business caused the transfer of the still from the place of 
shipment to the source of the raw material — the forest. Prom that time (1844) dates the great 
progress made in the expansion of this industry to the virgin forests farther south, and the 
turpentine stills increased rapidly in number in South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and the eastern 
Gulf States. 

During the war of secession, when the production in the South was stopped, the turpentine 
industry of France received an impetus, and that country supplied as best she could the deficiency. 
Prices went up to five or six times their former range, namely, $25 to $30 per 100 pounds for spirits, 
and $9 to $10 for pale yellow grades of rosin, $4 to $5 for inferior grades. These prices instigated 
improvement of methods, such as the Hugues system, described further on, and more careful 
treatment of the crop. 

With the close of the war the industry revived in the United States, though the demand for 
turpentine was not as great as formerly, petroleum products of various kinds having been found 
to take the place of the product of the pine for many purposes. With the general extension of 
arts and manufactures, however, both in this country and abroad, and new application of the 
products, there has been an increasing demand both for spirits of turpentine and resin, the 
exports of these alone in the year 1891 being $8,135,339 in value. 

The following table of exports of naval stores has been compiled with great care by Charles 
Mohr from the reports of the boards of trade, the press reports published in the several ports of 
export, and partly from private information. The amounts given are not claimed to comprise the 
total annual production, but will fairly represent the bulk of production in each year for the ten 
or twelve years included. 

Table of exports of naval stores from the markets of princi2)al venters of 2>roduetion daring the period 1880 to 1890. 





Nortli Carolina 
(Wilmington). 


South Carolina 
(Charleston). 


Georgia 
(Savannah). 


Alabama (Mobile). 


Tear. 


Spirits 

turpen- Kesin. 
tine. 


Spirits 
turpen- 
tine. 


Eesin. 


Spirits 1 
turpen- 1 Resin, 
tine. 


Spirits 
turpen- 
tine. 


Besin. 




Casks. Bai rels. 

125, 585 663, 967 
90,000 1 450,000 
88,376 1 425,925 
87,050 ! 483,432 
78,978 1 434,367 


Casks. 
60, 000 

51, 380 
69, 027 
65.914 
64, 207 
44,126 
40, 375 

52, 549 
40, 253 
43, 127 
49, 232 


Barrels. 
259, 040 
231,417 
258, 446 
285, 446 
264, 040 
218, 979 
170, 066 
171, 145 
181, 886 
149, 348 
217, 865 


Casks. 1 Barrels. 
46,321 ' 221,421 
54,703 1 282,386 
77, 059 i 309, 834 
llfi, 127 : 430,548 
129,835 1 559,625 
121.028 ! 401,998 
100, 925 1 424, 490 
146,925 ! 566,932 
168, 834 1 654, 286 
159,931 1 577,990 
181, 542 716, 658 


Casks. 
25, 209 
25, 224 
30, 937 
43, 870 
41, SO* 
41,713 
38, 733 
40, 149 
28, 725 
23, 927 
21,029 


Barrels. 
lo8, 482 




170, 616 




172, 438 




200, 125 




210, 512 




200, 688 




63, 580 
71, 912 
63, 473 
61, 628 
70, 289 


324, 942 
381, 335 
246, 516 
351, 8:;7 
385, 523 


175,817 




182, 955 




132, 055 




106, 129 


1889 90 


93, 906 







Exports of tar and crude turpentine from Wilmingt07i, N. C. 



Tear. 


Tar. 


Crude 
turpen- 
tine. 


Tear. 


Tar. 


Crude 
turpen- 
tine. 




Barrels. 
56, 113 
75.544 
85, 230 
70, 530 
69, 195 


Barrels. 
2,323 
3,188 
31,966 
45, 966 
35, 290 


1886 87 


Barrels. 
68,143 
63, 163 
68, 856 
71, 919 


Barrels. 
24, 662 






21, 572 






18, 171 






19, 082 













Adding to the above records the production reported from Mississippi and Louisiana, which 
is said to have averaged, for the last two years, 75,000 barrels of resin and 15,000 casks of spirits, 
being marketed in New Orleans, we may estimate the total production at present (1892) as round: 

340,000 casks spirits of turpentine, or 17,000,000 gallons, at 35 cents $6, 000, 000 

1,490,000 barrels (240 pounds net)' resin of grades W W to C, or 357,600,000 pounds, at $1.80 average price 

per barrel or per 280 pounds gross 2,682,000 

8, 682, 000 



' Lately the weight per barrel has been greatly increased, so that it now varies from 350 to 450 pounds net. 



NAVAL STORE INDUSTRY. 149 

From the same reports we quote the following data regarding the development of the industry 
iu the different States (no regular returns from any district are obtainable regarding the annual 
production of naval stores derived from the longleaf pine previous to 1870) : 

GROWTH OF THE TURPENTINE INDUSTRY IN THE STATES. 

North Carolina. — This State, the oldest site of production, took the lead in this industry up to the census year 
1880. In the census of 1850 the value of these products of that year is stated at $2,476,225, and in the census of 
1860 at $996,902. The production in 1870 of 75,990 casks of spirits of turpentine (equal to 37,995,000 gallons) and 
456,131,388 barrels of resin valued at $2,337,300, increased in the business year ending 1880 to 125,585 casks of spirits 
of turpentine and 663,967 barrels of resin of a value of $3,146,388, showing an increase of 65 per cent in spirits of 
turpentine and of 45 per cent in resin. From that year to the present a gradual decline has taken place, which, in 
the year 1888-89, amounted to 50 per cent in spirits and 48 per cent in the resin. The exports in that year reached a 
value of only $1,170,932. This decline is clearly due to the exhaustion of the natural resources. During the period 
of ten years, from 1879-80, 1889-90, $2,114,483 worth of spirits of turpentine aud resin, on the average, were each 
year exported. From the returns available it appears that nearly all the tar and crude turpentine shipped to 
domestic and foreign ports is produced in North Carolina. The export of these stores Irom Wilmington in 1889-90 
amounted to 71,949 barrels of tar and 19,082 of crude turpentine, at a value of not less than $253,000. 

South Carolina. — By the census of 1850, the naval stores produced in that year were valued at $235,836, and in 
the census of 1860 their value is stated at $205,249.' According to the returns made to the census in 1870, 31,647 
casks of spirits of turpentine and 115,945 barrels of resin were produced at a value of $779,077, rising in 1880 to 
60,000 casks of spirits and 259,940 barrels of resin, at a value of $1,491,853 — an increase of nearly 100 per cent in 
spirits of turpentine and 124 per cent in resin. After a slight check in the succeeding year, the production shows 
for the next four years an increase of 10 per cent on the average annually over the production in 1880. With the 
year 1885 a decline took place ; the production between that year and the end of 1890 varied between 39,651 casks of 
spirits of turpentine and 218,902 barrels of resin and 49,430 casks and 217,865 barrels. The value of the products in 
1888-89 amounted to $968,761. The average price of resin reached in that year the lowest figure of $1 a barrel. The 
production of the same year shows a decline of 28 per cent in spirits of turpentine and 40 per cent iu resin compared 
with the production of 1880. 

Georgia — In 1850 the naval stores produced reached a value of $55,086, and by the statements of the census of 
1870, 3,208 casks of spirits of turpeutine aud 13,840 barrels of resin, valued at $95,970, had been produced in Georgia 
during that year. In the course of the following ten years the naval store industry made great progress, resulting 
in 1880 in the export from Savannah of 46,321 casks spirits of turpentine and 221,421 barrels resin, at a value of 
$1,202,555, followed by a steady increase which, in 1884, exceeded the production of North Carolina during its 
palmiest days, and has been constantly progressing to the present day. In the year closing 1889, the exports from 
Savannah reached 159,931 casks spirits of turpeutine and 577,990 barrels of resin, valued at $3,616,680 — an increase 
of 227 per cent in spirits turpentine and 161 per cent in resin over the production of 1880. To-day this port is the 
greatest market for these stores in the world. 

Jlabama. — According to the statements in the census of 1850, the naval stores produced in Alabama represented 
a value of $17,800, which iu 1860 declined to $13,575, and in 1870, by the production of 8,200 casks spirits of turpentine 
and 53,175 barrels resin, reached a value of $280,203. In 1873 the receipts in the market of Mobile had increased fully 
50 per cent over those of the previous year, amounting to from 15,000 to 20,000 casks spirits turpentine and from 
75,000 to 100,000 barrels resin, besides 1,000 barrels tar and pitch, of a value estimated at $750,000. In 1875 the receipts 
reached a value of $1,200,000, which in the year 1879-80 was reduced to $739,000. In the year 1883 the production 
had increased again to 43,870 casks spirits thrpentine and 200,125 barrels resin, with but slight fluctuations to the 
end of 1887, indicating an increase of 59 per cent in spirits turpentine and 21 per cent in resin over the production 
in 1880. 

With the beginning of 1888 a decline set in. During that yeaj the receipts at Mobile were reduced to 28,725 
casks and 132,055 barrels, valued at $635,643, and still further, in 1888-89, to 23,927 casks and 106,129 barrels, of a 
value of $5.56,399. The receipts of spirits turpentine fell that year 47 per cent, and of resin nearly 49 per cent, below 
those of 1883, the year of greatest production, and the returns of the following years show still greater reductions. 
This decline is to be ascribed to the exhaustion of the forests along the lines of communication by water and by rail, 
and the consequent reduction in profits caused by the increased expense of transportation of the products from the 
still to the shipping points, ports, or inland markets. The receipts at Mobile include all of these stores produced in 
eastern Mississippi. 

Other States. — In Mississippi and Louisiana this industry has not as yet reached large dimensions, while it is not 
known that turpentine orcharding is carried on in the magnificent pineries of Texas. The production along the 
New Orleans and Northeastern Railroad is reported to have averaged for the last two years 15,000 casks of spirits of 
turpentine and 75,000 barrels of resin. 

PHYSIOLOGY OF RESINS. 

All coniferous trees, with the exception of those of the genus Taxus, contain in their woody 
structure passages or pockets, filled with resin, known as resin ducts or resin vesicles. How and 



' F. B. Hough's Report on Forestry to the Department of Agriculture, 1878, IXth, Vol. II, 333. 



150 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

under what couditions exactly these ducts and vesicles arise, and liow and why the resin forms, 
are matters still imperfectly understood. Resin passages begin to develop in the young seedling, 
and even during germinatioa; resin forms in the growing bud, however, only during normal 
respiration and growth. It is, then, a product of the living plant, formed by and during its life 
functions in the living parts of the plant; yet, as far as we know, it is a product of decomposition, 
which, while perhaps not useless in the economy of the plant, seems to find no further use in the 
nutrition or growth of its organs. 

Eesin passages arise from the shrinking away from each other of the walls of neighboring 
rows of cells; an intercellular space is thus formed and gradually filled up with products of 
decomposition and secretion, which we call resin. The source of these secretions is also still more 
or less unexplained. In the first place it comes, no doubt, from a decomposition of the cellulose 
of the surrounding cell wall; then the starchy contents of the cells themselves may change into 
resin, and by oxidation of terpenes, essential oils, the surrounding cells with their contents are 
liquefied and resorbed, and in this way the resin duct becomes filled and enlarged from a mere 
intercellular passage to an irregular smaller or larger pocket or canal. The number, size, and 
arrangement of the resin ducts and vesicles differ with different species. 

The Cupressus genus all have isolated cells containing resin; some have also ducts, the 
contents of which give the wood its peculiar odor, but these do not contain sufficient quantities 
to permit extraction except by distillation of the wood itself. One of the Thuya tribe {GaUitris 
quadrivalvis), of Algiers, furnishes the white resin, known as sandarac; and the fruit of the 
juniper, rich in essential oil, is used in the preparation of gin, the flavor of which is due to the oil. 

Tine wood of the firs [Abies) does not contain any resin ducts, only isolated resin cells and 
vesicles, which are found most amply in the bark, containing an oleoresin very rich in volatile oil, 
and hence very liquid. The wood of the spruces (Picea) contains few, rather narrow, longitudinal 
ducts, and wider lateral ducts strongly developed. The larch [Larix] contains resin ducts of very 
large diameter. The largest development of resin passages, however, occurs in the pines (Pinus), 
admitting extraction on a large commercial scale. 

In these we find longitudinal resin ducts in greater or less abundance, according to the 
species, in all parts of the annual rings, more frequently, however, in the summer wood than in 
the spring wood ; hence, in part, the darker coloration of the former. Those of the ducts which pass 
near a medullary ray form lateral extensions along the cells of the rays, by means of which the 
longitudinal ducts are more or less frequently connected. These lateral ducts extend into the 
bark, where sometimes considerable pockets of resin are formed; the longitudinal ducts are, 
however, the most important source of resin supply in the pine. 

As we have seen, the production of resin takes place under the life functions of the tree in 
the living parts. Whether, and if so how, the resin wanders in the tree is not well known. Small 
amounts, no doubt, remain at the place where they were formed. Larger masses may change their 
place, following the law of gravity, although the observation that leaning trees are richest in resin 
on the under side does not necessarily predicate a wandering. The collection of resin in the 
hollows of trees (frost pits) of the larch may not be due to a wandering of the resin, but an 
emptying of brokeTi ducts into the open spaces, in which the counterpressures otherwise existing 
are relieved. 

The special investigations undertaken in the Division of Forestry, and recorded in Bulletin 8, 
and reproduced in a later part of this report, have shown that the quantitative distribution of 
resin throughout the tree, from top to bottom, follows no law, the larger amounts being as often 
found in the top or middle portions as in the butt-logs. 

If the claim that the roots and base parts are richest in resin be a fact, this need not be 
due to a wandering of the resin, but to more abundant production in those parts. The belief 
that in trees bled for turpentine a change takes place in the distribution of resin was not sus- 
tained in the investigations. It was, however, found that the heartwood of old trees contains 
invariably more oleoresin than the sapwood, the largest amount relatively being found at the line 
where heart and sapwood join. This would indicate an infiltration of the heartwood with resin 
from the sapwood. Before, however, accepting such a conclusion, in which we would find it hard 
to explain mechanical difficulties in the wandering of the resin, it would be desirable to examine 
trees of different age and note the progress of resiuification, and also to make further analyses on 



NAVAL STORE INDUSTRY. 151 

absolutely fresh wood in which the sap wood is guarded against loss of resinous contents by evap- 
oration and otherwise. 

Of practical importance is the demonstration, furnished in these investigations, that the resin 
of the heartwood has lost its fluidity, being probably infiltrated into the cell wall, and therefore 
the tai^ping for turpentine does not involve the resin of the heartwood or produce any change in 
the same. 

Concerning the conditions which encourage abundant resin production we are also in the 
dark. Trees standing side by side, and apparently under the same conditions, show widely differ- 
ent amounts of resin. In general it may be said that light and warmth are prime requisites for 
abundant resiniflcation, hence this proceeds more rapidly in oi^en groves than close plantations; 
abundant nourishment and energetic activity of life seem also advantageous to resin production, 
hence a strong, fresh, warm soil furnishes more resin than a thin and cold soil, trees with full 
crown and branches more than thiu-foliaged and densely crowded trees with small crowns; warm 
and dry summers produce a richer flow than wet and cold ones. 

METHODS OF WORKING TKEHS. 

The methods of working trees for turpentine differ with the different species, as also in differ- 
ent countries. According as the resinous contents are found mainly in the bark or in the sapwood 
or in the heartwood, we may discern various methods. 

(1) Chipping; this method consists in making a scar or chip on the tree, which is annually 
enlarged, and gathering the liquid turpentine at the lower end of the chip or scar in recess (box) 
cut into the tree; or else, as in France, in vessels; or else by allowing the resin to dry and be 
scraped, as is done with the Norway spruce. 

(2) Bore-holes are applied in the tapping of larch, where the turpentine is formed or collected 
in the heart. 

(3) Opening the resin vesicles of the bark and gathering by hand is applied in the case of 
the balsam. 

The yield of resin and turpentine depends upon various circumstances besides the species from 
which it is gathered, namely: (1) The dimensions of the tree; the larger the tree, of course, ceteris 
paribus, the larger the yield ; the yield of trees of small diameter, 7 to 10 inches, may be from one- 
half to one-third of those of larger diameter. (2) The conditions of site ; all elements which further 
large development of the crown, mainly open and sunny position, south or east exposure, will 
increase the yield. (3) The weather, and especially the temperature, during the time of gathering; 
the most favorable weather is changing temperature and humidity; long-continued heat and long- 
continued cold rains depress the yield, especially a cold spring predicts a poor crop; the flow of 
turpentine increases from sirring to fall. (4) The duration of the bleeding process; in the first two 
or three years the yield is or ought to be smaller than in the following years. With the Austrian 
(black) pine the maximum yield seems to be reached in the trees of smaller diameter between the 
fourth and sixth years; in the trees with larger diameter, over 10 inches, between the seventh and 
ninth. Trees of these species on proper sites can be utilized for thirty years, but working becomes 
less i>rofitable after six or eight years for the smaller and ten or twelve years for the larger sizes; 
the expense of working growing too costly, the foliage becoming thinner, and the yield smaller. 
(5) The aptitude and care of the workmen, which tells in the manner of making and enlarging the 
chips and of dipping and scraping. 

PRINCIPLES TO BE OBSERVED IN TURPENTINE ORCHARDS. 

The principles which should be observed in the chipj)ing process, the one practiced on the 
largest scale, especially on pines, are as follows : 

Size or age of trees to be tajiped. — There is not sufficient experimental knowledge at hand to 
determine the most advantageous size of trees for tapping, either as far as greatest annual pro- 
duction of turpentine or safety to the life of the tree is concerned. The experiments on Austrian 
pine, recited further on, seem to show that trees above 10 inches in diameter yield much more 
than smaller trees, almost double the amount of resin, with a higher percentage of spirits of 
turpentine. It also stands to reason that the safety of the tree, where this is of moment, is better 



152 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

assured iu the larger tree. Generally speakiug, the best time for plentiful production is neither 
near the beginning nor near the end of the life of the tree, but when it is in its most vigorous 
growth, and probably after it has attained its maximum annual height growth, for then its activity 
is concentrated upon the development of its interior and diameter development. 

If the analyses referred to before exhibit the true amounts of resin formed in the part of the 
tree from which they are taken, and if our proposition be true that ordinarily resins do not wander 
in the tree but remain where they are formed, then we could, by analyses of cross sections, dividing 
them into periods and ascertaining the resin contents of each division, approximately determine 
the period of greatest production. In view of the great variation in resin contents, a very large 
number of analyses would be required to allow generalization. From those at hand it would 
appear that the time of greatest production falls for the lougleaf pine between the seventieth and 
ninetieth years. Since, however, resin production appears to be a result of vigorous life functions, 
and since wood production depends upon the same conditions, we should rather seek a criterion 
for resin production in the relation of diameter to age '; that is to say, whenever the largest 
amount of wood is formed in a given time — whenever ^| reaches its greatest value — then the largest 
amount of resin is presumably also formed. Investigations in this direction are still wanting. 

Another consideration is that of the value of the tree after it has been bled. Since the wood 
which is formed after the bleeding either on or between the scars is of little value for sawmilling, 
no trees should be bled— unless they are otherwise unfit for lumber— that will not make good 
saw logs from the heartwood; that is to say, they should be at least 14 inches in diameter, so as 
to furnish a log of at least 8 inches at the small end. If tlie diameter were allowed to increase to 
at least 18 or 20 inches, probably the largest value both in resin and lumber might be attained. 

In practice, various rules have found acceptance. In France 14 inches, which may be attained 
in thirty years, is considered a necessary diameter iu order to endure continued tapping without 
injury to life; the lumber value of the maritime pine, being small, enters hardly into consideration. 
In Austria the tapping is begun with trees as low as 8 inches iu diameter, but a diameter of at 
least 10 Inches is preferred. With the spruce, 12 inches is considered a minimum size. In the 
United States, where no regard to consequences for the tree or lumber is had, the diameter at 
which a tree might be tapped is gauged by the amount of resin obtained in proportion to the labor 
expended. Until lately small diameters were avoided, but now any tree capable of carrying a 
bore is tapped and the ruin of the future of the industry prepared by this malpractice. 

Size and number of scars and progress o/ c/wj«.— Eegard to the life of the tree and the length 
of time for which it is expected to produce, on one hand, and the rapidity with which the largest 
amount of resin can be extracted in the shortest time, on the other hand, determine the size 
and number of scars inflicted simultaneously. Although the resin itself is or seems to be of no 
particular use to the tree in its vital functions, by laying bare a part of the cambium and young 
wood a diminution of the flow of water to the crown, and of nutritive material downward, must 
be induced. As a result the foliage must sufler iu proportion, and with it not only the life of the 
tree, but also the production of additional resin, which is produced in quantity only in vigorously 
growing trees with a luxuriant foliage. Hence both the life of the tree and the total yield of resin 
may be curtailed by too many and too large scarifications. 

Since there is a relation between the amount of active foliage on each side of the tree and the 
activity in the cambium on the same side (one-sided crowns produce one-sided annulation), it 
stands to reason that a larger product can be obtained for a longer time by inflicting a number of 
smaller scars than by making a large scar on one side of the tree, which is bound to reduce the 
activity of the foliage on that side, and thereby the production of additional resin; not that the 
dripping itself increases the production of new resin, as has been sometimes thought, but new resin 
is formed every year in proportion to the activity of the foliage, and hence by impairing this activity 
the amount of new I'esiu in the new wood is reduced. 

As we have shown, the resin which the orchardist takes from the tree, in the longleaf pine, 
at least, comes alone from the sapwood, the heartwood being impregnated with ncmfluid oleoresin 
and not contributing toward the flow. The resin tapped is not only that which was deposited in 
the sapwood in former years, but also that which is formed during the years of tapping by the 
growth of the tree; hence sufBcie.nt amount of active cambium and young wood should be left 
untouched to permit a plentiful supply of water from the ground and vigorous function of the 



NAVAL STORE INDUSTRY. 153 

foliage, and the size of tbe oue sear, oi- the sum total of all the scars, if several, should stand in 
a certain relation to the circumference or diameter of the tree. 

For the size of the scar three dimensions are to be determined — breadth, depth, and height. 
Breadth and depth should be determined by the considerations just stated. As far as product is 
concerned there is nothing gained — at least in our pine — by cutting deeper than the sapwood, since 
the heart is inoperative. The breadth may be larger or smaller according to whether the tree is 
expected to yield resiu for a long time or is to be depleted as fast as possible. In the former case 
the scar .should not be -nider than can conveniently callous over in a few years' rest, so as to permit 
new scars to be opened after the rest without any diminution, so to say, of conducting cell tissue. 
In the latter case, i. e., when the largest amount of resiu is to be obtained in the quickest time, 
without reference to the life of the tree, only enough cambium need be spared to sustain the tree 
alive during the period which it takes to carry the chip advantageously to the greatest practical 
height. In this case, to be sure, only the resin already formed in the sapwood is being drained, 
no new additions coming from the growth during the years of tapping. The greater the breadth 
of the chip the greater, no doubt, the momentary discharge. The height of the chip, in thei:)ines 
at least, should be determined by the following considerations : The resin drains from the longi- 
tudinal resiu ducts which are cut through, by the law of gravity, until by the volatilization of the 
solvent oil of turpentine the hardened resin stops the flow; hence regard to plentiful production 
dictates as low a chip to begin with as is possible to collect from. A high chii) at first and rapid 
chipping afterwards is a useless waste of good material, without any benefit, since the flow depends 
only uijou the number of resin ducts cut through radially. 

In practice the French have come nearest a rational size of the scar, not allowing it to be 
more than 4 to 5 inches wide and scarcely one-half an inch deep, beginning with a height of not 
more than I inches and progressing afterwards with the greatest care very gradually. With such 
chips it is possible to bleed the trees without detriment for their whole natural life. In Austria 
the size is extravagant, namely, widening to two-thirds of the circumference, although the height 
is at first started with only 2 inches. In the United States a waste of 10 inches is at once incurred 
by "cornering" the box, and the chi^) is made 12 to 14 inches wide without much reference to the 
life or size of the tree, and several chips are opened on larger trees. 

Method of collecting the resin. — The pocket interest of the orchardist makes it desirable to 
have the largest amount of "dip" — ^that is, liquid resiu — and the smallest amount of "scrape," or 
hardened resin scraped from the surface of the scar, for the former contains larger amounts of the 
more valuable oil which has been evaporated from the latter by exposure to the air, as the resin, 
in a thin layer, runs to the receptacle. It is therefore advantageous to reduce as much as 
possible the distance between the place at which the resin exudes and the receptacle and also to 
concentrate as much as possible into one channel the flow of resin. 

The American practice, it will be seen, is entirely faulty in this respect, and the Austrian not 
much better, the French alone being rational. 

Frequent collection from receptacles at the trees also reduces loss from evaporation. Clean- 
liness — keeping impurities, sand, chips of bark, and wood out of the receptacles — is reflected in 
the better grades of the iiroduct. Scraping should be done as rarely as possible, since it injures 
the tree, and after the resin is once hardened the loss of oil by exposure is only insignificant. 

TURPENTINE ORCnARDING IN AMERICA. 

The American practice of boxing and chipping is thus described by Dr. Charles Mohr, agent 
of the Division of Forestry: 

In the establishment of a tui'pentine orchard and still two points must be considered, namely, (1) proper facili- 
ties oi transportation to shij)ping points for the product, and (2) a sufficient supply of water for the condenser con- 
nected with the still. The copper stills generally in use have a capacity of about 800 gallons, or to carry a charge 
of 20 to 25 barrels of crude turpentine. For such a still to be charged twice in twenty-four hours during the work- 
ing season not less than 4,000 acres of piue land, with a good average stand of timber, are required. This area is 
divided into twenty parcels, each of 10,000 "boxes," as the cavities are called, which are cut into the tree to serve 
as a receptacle of the exuding resiu. Su'^h a parcel is termed a " crop," constituting the allotment to one laborer 
for the task of chipping. The work in the turpentine orchard, as such a complex is called, is started In the earlier 
part of the winter, with the cutting of the boxes. Until some years past no trees were boxed of a diameter of less 
than 12 inches; of late, however, saplings scarcely over 8 inches in diameter are boxed. Trees of full growth 



154 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS IT. S. BEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 

according to their circumference, receive from two to four boxes; so that the 10,000 boxes can be said to be 
distributed among 4,000 to 5,000 trees on an area of 200 acres. 

The boxes are cut (see PI. XXIX ") from 8 to 12 inches above the base of the tree, 7 inches deep {h-f) and slanting 
from the outside to the interior with an angle of about 35- ; they are 14 inches in greatest diameter {d-e) and 4 inches 
in greatest width {h-c) at the top, of a capacity of about 3 pints; the cut above this reservoir forms a gash of the 
same depth and 6 to 7 inches of greatest height {a-h). In the meantime the ground is laid bare around the tree for 
a distance of 2| or 3 feet, and all combustible material loose on the ground is raked in heaps to be burned in order 
to protect the boxes against the danger of catching fire during the conflagrations which are so frequently started in 
the pine forests by design or carelessness. This work of raking around the trees is also done to give the chipper in 
the performance of his task a firmer foothold on the ground than could be obtained when covered with the slippery 
pine straw. The employment of fire for the protection of the turpentine orchard against the same destructive 
agency necessarily involves the total destruction of the smaller tree growth, and, left to spread without control 
beyond the proper limits, carries ruin to the adjoining forests, in many instances over areas many miles in extent. 
The tools used are illustrated on PI. XXIX, and are described as follows: Fig. 1, chipper; fig. 2, pusher; fig. 3, open 
hacker; fig. 4, closed hacker; tig. 5, scraper; fig. 6, puller. 

With the first days of approaching spring the turpentine begins to flow and "chipping" is begun, as the work 
of the scarification of the tree is termed, by which its surface above the box is laid bare just beyond the youngest 
layers of the wood, scarcely to a depth of an inch from the outside of the bark. To eft'ect this first a strip 2 inches 
wide is removed, extending vertically from the corner of the box to the height of about 10 inches (" cornering"), 
and then the surface between these strips is laid open. Tlie removal of the bark and outermost layers of the wood, 
the "chipping" or "hacking," is done with a peculiar tool, the "hacker" (PI. ii, figs. 3 and 4), a strong knife 
with a curved edge, fastened to the end of an iron handle bearing on its lower end an iron ball about 4 pounds in 
weight, in order to give increased momentum to the force of the stroke inflicted upon the tree, and thus to lighten 
the labor of chipping. As soon as the scarified surface ("chip") ceases to discharge turpentine freely, fresh incisions 
are made with the hacker. The hacking or chipping is repeated every week from March to October or middle of 
November, extending generally over thirty-two weeks, and the height of the chip is increased about lA to 2 inches 
every month. The resin accumulated in the boxes is removed to a barrel for transfer to the still by a flat, trowel- 
shaped dipper ("dipping"). In the first season, on the average, seven dippings are made (from six to eight). The 
10,000 boxes yield at each dip about 40 barrels of dip or soft turpentine, or "soft gum," as it is called in Alabama, 
of 240 pounds net or 280 pounds gross weight. The flow is most copious during the hottest part of the season, 
July and August, diminishes with the advent of cooler weather, and ceases in October or November. As soon as 
the exudation is arrested and the crude resin begins to harden, it is carefully scraped from the chip and the boxes 
with a narrow, keen-edged scrape attached to a wooden handle ("scraping"). The product so obtained, called 
"scrape," or hard turpentine, or hard gum, is of a dingy white color, more or less mixed with woody p.articles and 
dust, and contains only half of the quantity of volatile oil obtained from the dip or soft turpentine. 

In the first season the average yield of the dip amounts to 280 barrels and of the scrape to 70 barrels. The first 
yields 6i gallons of spirits of turpentine to the barrel of 240 pounds net, and the latter 3 gallons to the barrel, 
resulting in the production of 2,000 to 2,100 gallons spirits of turpentine and 260 barrels of resin of higher and 
highest grades. The dippings of the first season are called "virgin dip" when almost without color, and white 
virgin dip, from which tlie finest and most highly priced quality of resin is obtained perfectly white, transparent, 
showing but the faintest tint of straw color, which enters the market under the grades of "water white" WW, and 
"window glass" WG. The next grades of resin obtained by the distillation of the turpentine dipped during the 
latter part of the same season, the "second virgin dip," are of a decided straw color and designated by the letters 
N. M. K. (See Distillation.) 

In the second year from five to six dippings are made, the crop averaging 225 barrels of soft turpentine; the 
scrape is increased to 120 barrels, making altogether about 2,000 gallons of spirits. The rosin, of which about 200 
barrels are produced, is of a lighter or deeper amber color, and perfectly transparent, of mediirm quality, including 
grades "I," "H," "G." In tlie third and fourth year the number of dippings is reduced to three. With the slow 
flow over a more extended surface, the turpentine thickens under prolonged exposure to the air and loses some of its 
volatile oil, partly by evaporation and partly by oxidation. To the same influence, no doubt, the deeper color of the 
crude turpentine is to be ascribed. In the third season the dip amounts to 120 barrels, the scrape to about 100 bar- 
rels, yielding about 1,100 gallons of spirits of turpentine and 100 barrels of rosin of a more or less dark-brown color, 
less transparent, and graded as "F," "E," "D." 

In the fourth and last year three dippings of somewhat smaller quantity of dip than that obtained the season 
before and 100 barrels of scrape or hard turpentine are obtained, with a yield scarcely reaching 800 gallons of spirits 
and 100 barrels of rosin of lowest quality from a deep-brown to almost blaclv color, opaque, and heavier in weight, 
classed as "C," "B," "A." After the fourth year the turpentine is generally abandoned. 

Owing to the reduction in the quantity and quality of the raw product, resulting in a smaller yield of spirits 
and of lowest grades of rosin, it is not considered profitable by the larger operators to work the trees for a longer 
time. In North Carolina the smaller landowners work their trees for eight to ten successive seasons and more, 
protect the trees against fire, and, after giving them rest for a series of years, apply new boxes on spaces left between 
the old chips ("reboxing") with good results. 

Distillation. — The process of distillation requires experience and care in order to prevent loss in spirits of 
turpentine, to obtain the largest quantities of rosin of higher grades, and to guard against overheating. After 
heating the still somewhat beyond the melting point of crude turpentine, a minute stream of tepid water from the 
top of the condensing tub is conducted into the still and allowed to run until the end of the process; this end is 



Plate XXIX. 




COST OF TUEPEI^TINE OECHARDlNG. 



m 



indicated by a peculiar uoise of the boiling contents of the still and the diminished quantity of volatile oil m the 
distillate On 'reaching this point the heating of the still and the influx of water has to be carefully regulated 
After all the spirits of turpentine has distilled over, the fire is removed, and the contents of the still are drawn off 
bv a tap at the bottom. " This residuum, the molten rosin, is first allowed to run through a wire cloth and is 
immediately strained again through coarse cotton cloth, or cotton batting made for the purpose, into a large trough, 
from which it is ladled into barrels. The legal standard weight of the commercial package is 280 pounds gross, no 

tare being allowed. , , j, r. ■ i 

The finest -rades of rosin are largely used in the manufacture of paper, for sizing, oi soaps, and of fine varnishes ; 
the medium qualities are mostly consumed in the manufacture of yellow soap, sealing wax, in pharmacy and for 
other minor purposes, and the lower and lowest qualities are used for pitch in ship and boat building, brewers 
pitch and for the distillation of rosin oil, which larg...ly enters into the manufacture of lubricating agents. 

A turpentine distillery, on the basis of twenty crops, can be said to produce, during the four seasons the boxes 
are worked about 2,400 casks, or 120,000 gallons, of spirits of turpentine and from 11,500 to 12,000 barrels of resin, or 
■> 800 000 pounds (the lowest grade BA excluded), at a value of about $60,000 at average prices. The prices ot spirits 
of turpentine vary from 28 cents to 40 cents a gallon, even during the same season, according to supply and demand 
in the market. The quotations on December 31, 1892, at Wilmington, were 28 cents for spirits and $1.91 for resiu in 
the average dowu to grade C. The prices for different grades were per barrel: WG, $3.65; N, $3.10; M, $2.85; K, 
$2.15; I, $1.45; H, $1.15; G, $0.92; F, $0.85; E.D.C, $0.82. , ,. , ^ ^, 

Cost of estaUMment of plcmt and of worUnrj the cj-oj).— Lands with the privilege of boxing the timber lor the 
term of four years are rented at the rate of $50 per crop of 10,000 boxes (about 200 acres with 4,000 to 5,000 trees). 
The establisment of plant for the working of twenty crops requires an investment ot about $5,000, including the 
still houses, sheds, tools, wagons, and working animals, mostly mules. 

The following statement, made by an operator of many years' experience, exhibits the actual expenses incurred 
for the working of one crop during four years ; the work is for the greatest part done by the job : 



$125. 00 
15.00 
12.00 
40.00 



Chopping 10,000 boxes 

Inspecting and tallying the same 

Cornering 10,000 boxes 

Raking around the trees, at $10 per season t-r on 

Chipping boxes during 111 weeks, at $5 per week qoo' on 

Dipping crude resin, 650 barrels, and scraping 460 stands, at 30 cents , ooo'on 

Hauling dippings and scrapings, at 30 cents per barrel 

Distilling at 20 cents per barrel 

Spirit barrels, 122, at $2.80 

Making and filling 795 barrels resin, at 30 cents 

Superintendence of the crop 

Total working expense of crop 

Rent of land for one crop 



222. 00 

305. 00 

238. 50 

80.00 

2, 258. 50 
50.00 



Cost of one crop 

Total expense of operating a plant of 20 crops during four years : 

Labor,' rent and materials ^^^'^nnn 

Interest on capital invested, $5,000, at 6 per cent 1,200.00 

Loss by depreciation of plant, 10 per cent per year for four years 

Taxes and incidentals 

Total «0'«0«-00 

Yield.— It appears that the yield of the crop of 200 acres distributes itself about as follows: 



2, 308. 50 



2, 000. 00 
630. 00 





Dip. 


Scrape. 


Total 
crude tur- 
pentine. 


Total 
yield. 


Scrape. 


Spirits. 


Bosin. 




Pounds. 
67, 200 
54, 000 
28, 800 
28, 000 


Pounds. 
16, 800 
28, 000 
24, 000 
24, 000 


Pounds. 
84, 000 
82, 800 
52, 800 
52, 000 


Per cent. 
30.9 
30.5 
19.5 
19.1 


Per cent. 
20.0 
34.8 
45.5 
46.1 


Gallons. Per cent. 

2,100 34.4 

2, 000 32. 8 

1, 100 18. 

900 14. 8 


Barrels. 
260 
200 
100 
100 




^v'.^H ^ 






178,000 


93, 600 


271, 600 


100.0 


29.0 


6,100 1 100.0 


669 



If we assume that 4,.500 trees produce these amounts iu four years, the yield per tree in crude turpentine is 
about 60 pounds. The result at the still would indicate that each tree furnishes between li and l.V gallons of spirits 
and one-ei-hth of a barrel, or 30 pounds, of rosin of better grade, or at best 75 cents' worth of product during the 
four years, which it has cost 55 cents to produce, leaving 5 ce nts net per tree per year, or from $1 to $1.25 per acre. 

Oarers are paid $1 to $1.25 per day ; one man chips 10,000 to 12,500 boxes per week by the job. A saving is 
made now in most localities in the matter of barrels and freight by using kerosene tanks on cars, holding 3,500 
gallons, into which the spirits are filled directly from the still. 



156 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

From the fact that 4,000 acres of tiiubor land (20 crops of 200 anros each) diirins four years' -working prodnco 
120,000 gallous of spirits of turpentine, or li gallons per acre and year, it follows that to produce the 17,000,000 
gallons reported as the annual product, not less than 2,250,000 acres must be in orchard; and since the yield of the 
first year represents 35 per cent of the total annual yield, at least 800,000 acres of virgin forest are newly invaded 
annually to supply the turpentine stills in operation. 

INSPECTION LAWS RELATING TO RESINOUS PRODUCTS. 

In several of the Southern States laws have been passed rej,'alating the inspection of turpen- 
tine, etc., and dettniug its grades. The principal of these are as follows: 

Virginia. — Barrels to be full of good, clean, sound, and merchantable tar, pitch, or turpentine, and to hold 3U 
gallons. 

North Carolina.— Soft turpentine barrels to weigh 280 pounds gross, and hard turpentine, 240 pounds; pitch, 32 
gallons to the barrel. Turpentine, tar, or pitch to be free from fraudulent mixtures. Casks to be of good seasoned 
staves, three fourths of an inch thick, and not over 5 inches wide; not less than 30 nor over 32 inches long. Heads 
not less than 1 nor more than U inches thick. To have 12 hoops to a cask, except hard turpentine, which may have 
10 hoops. Water is declared not a fraudulent mixture of tar. Tar and turpentine barrels not limited as to weight, 
but the weight to be marked and certified. Turpentine to be branded " S " or " H " for soft or hard, and to show the 
initials of the maker's name. The inspector of naval stores at Wilmington is to gauge all spirits of turpentine. 

South Carolina.— A barrel of crude turpentine to weigh 280 pounds gross. 

Georgia. — Inspectors of turpentine, etc., may be appointed by cities, and their duties prescribed. Soft turpen- 
tine to be pnt up in barrels, as in North Carolina, and to be branded "V" for virgin turpentine, "S" for yellow 
dip, and "H" for hard. 

Florida. — The governor may appoint inspectors of tar and turpentine. Makers required to brand their initials 
on the barrels. Inspectors are to mark the products that come under their notice as follows: "V" for pure virgin 
dip, "D" for pure yellow dip, "S " for pure scrape. If the first two of these be impure or mixed, the "V" or "D" 
to be inclosed in a circle. If the scrape is not passable, it is marked with an " X" in a circle. 

Allowances and deductions are to be made on turpentine with reference to the following particulars: 

(1) When virgin dip is dipped from burnt boxes, or contains burnt cinders or sand. 

(2) When virgin dip is mixed with chips, bark, or otlier impui-ities. 

(3) When virgin dip is mixed with yellow dip, or scrape. 

(4) When yellow dip is mixed, or contains chips, straw, bark, scrape, or sand, or other impurities. 

(5) When scrape contains more chips than are absolutely necessary to get it off, or dirt, or other impurities. 

(6) When yellow dip, virgin dip, scrape, or tar contains water, or there is an excess of wood in the barrels 
containing it, or it is injured by long standing or leakage. 

(7) When tar or turpentine of any class is contained in insufficient or unmerchantable barrels. 

The size of barrels is fixed at 30 to 32 inches in length, and the weight 280 pounds gross for turpentine and 320 
for tar. Allowance is to be, made for deflciences, and I'ecords are to be kept, but inspection is not obligatory upon 
the producers of tar and turpentine in this State. 

Alabama. — Inspectors are to be appointed by the cities, and their duties prescribed by municipal law 

TURPENTINE ORCHARDING IN EUROPE. 

Austrian practice. — In Austria it is the black pine {Pinus laricio, var. austriaca) Avhich is 
tapped for turpentine. The method is very similar to the American. In the spring, just before 
the sap rises (usually in March), a bos (quandel) is cut into the tree about 1 foot above the ground 
(quandel). The box has about 3 inches depth and a breadth of from one-fourth to one-third of the 
circumference of the tree. From the corners of this box two upward diverging channels are 
notched, from the ends of which continues the scar or chip (sache). This is made with a carved 
hoe, 2J inches in width, by taking all the bark and the youngest two to four year old wood. The 
chip is at first made only about 2 inches high and increased very gradually, reaching during the 
first year 14 to 16 inches in height. 

In the first year the chip is increased every week ; in later years oftener, every four or five 
days. If the chipping is delayed longer the yield is smaller, since the resin thickens and incrus- 
tates the surface. The chipping is continued during eight to twelve seasons, and the chip 
increases every year at the rate of from 14 to 16 inches. The breadth remains even, and must 
never be more than two-thirds of the circumference of the tree. The time of chipping is from 
April to the beginning or the middle of October. In the first year most of the resin is liquid and 
flows into the box. Later, when it has to run a longer distance, so much of the volatile oils evapo- 
rates that the exudation thickens and must be scraped off the chip. So far this method does not 
differ from the American method, except as to the rapidity with which the chip is increased and 
the length of time the tree is worked. In order, however, to reduce the surface from which the 



YIELD OF BLED TREES. 



157 



volatile oils may evaporate, a channel is formed iiear the place where the exudation occurs by 
making two converging cuts and inserting two pieces of wood, which conduct the resin into a nar- 
rower channel down to the box. Otherwise there seems to be no difference in the two methods. 

Yield. In experiments regarding the yield, the following results were obtained on sixteen 

trees from 90 to 110 years old, under various conditions. During nine years of chipping there 
was obtained of resin (per tree and year) the amounts given in the statement following: 



The last figure gives 75 pounds per tree altogether, or 25 per cent more than the average 
product in American practice. An 80 year-old growth, which was rented for twenty years, fur- 
nished in the tenth year of orcharding still a net rent of $12 to $18 per acre. 

The scrape contains less spirits of turpentine, is mixed with chips of wood, and therefore 
obtains only two-thirds of the price paid for the dip. The amount of scrape depends, in the flist 
place, on tbe surface of the chip ; also on the temperature during the fall, warm weather producing 

2uore dips. 

During the nine years of experimental chipping there were obtained for each 100 pounds of 
dip the following amounts of scrape: 



Minimum. Maximum, 



Pounds. 
57.7 
47.3 



From the gathering to the distillation of the resin a loss averaging about 3 per cent was 
experienced by the evaporation of the oil of turpentine. No other resin seems to be so rich in 
turpentine as that of the black pine, 100 pounds of resin yielding 14 to 20 pounds of spirits and 
60 pounds of rosin. 

During the same experiment, in the course of uine years, the following percentages of loss in 
the trees by death or windfalls occurred : 



Small trees below 10 inches. 
Large trees over 10 inches . . 



Minimum. Maximum, 



irage. 1 



Trees from 50 to 100 years old are tapped ten or twelve years before they are to be cut. The 
business is carried on upon a rent system per tree and year, under contract prescribing, the 
dimensions and gradual extension of the chip and the time for chipping (usually till September 
30) and scraping (not later than October 30), with heavy penalties in case of damage or excess of 
conditions. The total production in 1880— which has probably not materially changed since— was 
estimated at 13,288,000 pounds of resin, producing 9,260,000 pounds of rosin, 2,125,000 pounds of 
spirits, with an aggregate money value of about $300,000. 

French jjcac^Jce.— Turpentine orcharding in France is carried on with more care than in any 
other country. The first difference between the methods in the United States and in France is 
that in the latter it is largely practiced in young plantations specially planted and protected for 
this particular business. The maritime pine (Pinus pinaster L. synou., P. maritima), which has 
been used in the celebrated plantations on the sand dunes along the coast and in the Landes of 
Gascony for over 2,000 square miles, furnishes the bulk of naval stores produced in France. The 
boxing or tapping is begun when the trees are 20 to 25 years old and is continued for a great 
many years. Trees have been known to have been boxed for more than two hundred years. 



158 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTUEE. 

Two methods of boxing are practiced, which are known as gemmage a mort and gemmage a vie, 
or " bleeding to death " and " bleeding alive." The difference lies in the number of scars inflicted 
simultaneously. The bleeding to death is applied to trees which are to be cut out in the thinnings 
of a regular forest management and to those which are at the end of their usefulness. The illus- 
tration (PI. XXX), here reproduced from Prof. L. Boppe's work ou Forest Technology, represents a 
pine 200 years old, with more than fifty scars or chips, without apparently any ill effects on the 
life of the tree. 

The "bleeding alive" is practiced on those trees which are to grow on, and hence must not 
be injured too much. They receive, therefore, one chip at a time. When this, after five seasons' 
workings, has attained a height of about 12 feet, the tree is allowed a rest of several years, and 
then another chip is opened, 6 or 8 inches from the old one, or else on the opposite side of the tree. 
In this way in time the whole circumference is chipped in alternating periods of bleeding and of 
rest until the trees are to be cut for lumber, when 100 to 125 years old or more. Sometimes excep- 
tionally vigorous trees receive more than one chip at a time, but these are opened at different 
heights. 

This successfally continued bleeding can, however, be carried on only by corresponding care in 
the manipulation. The important difference between French and American practice consists in 
this, that the former is more careful in the chipijing and proceeds more slowly in enlarging the 
chip, which is made only 3 to 5 inches wide instead of 12 or 14. Further, in collecting the products 
with more care, the deep box cut into the tree in American practice is dispensed with and a lip 
and pot substituted. 

The chipper begins his work in February or March by removing with a scraper from the whole 
portion of the tree that is to be chipped during the season, about 2 feet in height byl inches wide, 
the outer bark nearly to the wood. This is done to obviate the falling of bark chips into the pot, 
thus securing a cleaner product, and also to save the chipping tool. In the first week of March 
the chip is opened at the foot of the tree by making a triangular incision 3 to 4 inches wide and 
about IJ^ inches high, and not deeper than two-fifths of an inch. (Note the small size of the open- 
ing.) This chip is made with a specially and curiously fashioned hatchet, having a curved blade 
and a curved handle, difficult to make and use (PI. XXX, fig. 1). The chip is enlarged (chipping 
piquage) without increasing the width or even decreasing it. The art of the chipper consists in 
taking off' just as thin a peel of wood as possible, and at each chipping he freshens up the old scar 
by removing another i^eel, taking care not to go deeper than two-fifths of an inch altogether. 
This chipping is repeated forty to forty-five times during the season, and during following seasons 
the chip is carried higher, until it reaches 12 to 13 feet in height, namely, 70 inches the first season, 
30 inches each the following three seasons, and 38 inches the last season, when the tree is left to 
rest, and the wound heals up by the formation of new layers of bark and wood. 

The cross-sections of trees bled through several periods twenty-four to twenty-seven years, 
and more (shown on PI. XXXI) exhibit the manner in which the chips are distributed through the 
various seasons around the tree, and the manner in which the scars heal over. To be sure, the 
wood formed on the chips is irregular and therefore not serviceable for anything except fuel. 

An experiment made in Austria on the black pine with the Hagues system (PI. XXXI) produced 
more dip and less scrape and that purer, and with less work, owing to the greater capacity of the 
vessel and the smaller surface to be scraped being confined to the chip of the year. Besides, 
quantity and quality of the spirits and rosin were superior, namely, 78.5 pounds distilled gave — 





Common 


method. 


Pot gathered. 




Pounds. 
14.7 
47.3 
30.6 
1.5 
4.4 


Per ct. 
or 18. 78 
60.22 
13.44 
1.96 
5.60 


Pounds. 
17.6 
52.9 
5.3 


Per ct. 
or 22. 41 




67.37 


Water 


6.72 








2.7 


3.50 








78.5 


100 


78.5 


100 



Yield. — In a growth of 45 years of age, each tree produces from C to 10 pounds of resin each 
season more than we obtain from old trees. The yield per acre varies, of course, according to the 



FRENCH PKACTICE IN BLEEDING TREES. 159 

age and the number of trees bled "to death" and bled "alive," as well as on the nature of the 
soil — the sand soil of the dunes produces more than the gravel and limestone soil. The weather 
and the care of the workman also influences the yield, so that the i^roduct per acre varies 
between 200 jiouuds of resin in younger (30 to 35 years old) growths to 400 pounds in older growths. 
The yield is said to be greatest in trees about 16 inches in diameter. If bled "to death," 200 to 
250 pines, S inches in diameter, will yield about 500 j^ounds each year for three years. M. Bagueris 
mentions a piue about 50 inches in diameter which had 10 chips working simultaneously and 
yielded 12 to 14 pounds of resin annually. The men are paid by the cask of 517 pounds from $6 
to $7, which allows them to earn about SO cents to $1 per day. The price of the crude turpentine 
varies considerably from $8 per cask of 517 pounds. It reached the enormous figure of $58 during 
the American civil war. Orcharding in France is usually carried on on half shares between 
timber-land owner and orchardist. 

EXPLANATION OF PLATES. 
Plate XXX. — Tools used in French practice. 

Tlie tools employed in the French method of orcharding are : An as (la cognee) for cutting trees and for remov- 
ing the course for the chip and for opening the lower cuts. An ax with a concave blade and a curved handle 
(I'abchot) ; this is the principal tool of the orchardist, and it serves exclusively for the opening of the chips. The 
hlade is razor-like in order to make a sharp and smooth cut through the resin ducts. I'Le irregular form of its 
handle and of its sharp edge make it au instrument diificult to manufacture and particularly difficult to use, and it 
is only after a long apprenticeship that it can be used with exactness and dexterity. (Fig. 1.) 

A scoop (la pelle) is made of iron, with an edge of steel. It is iixed at the end of a wooden handle .about 3 
foot in length. This serves to clean the bottom part of the chip and particularly to draw out the resin from the 
reservoirs. Fig. 2.) 

The barker (la barrasquite) has a blade, steel-plated, narrow, and curved, and is furnished with a handle 5 feet 
long. This instrument is used for barking the trees at the highest point where it is impossible to use the ax, and 
for gathering the resin from such places. (Fig. 4.) 

Another kind of barker (le rasclet), much edged, having a handle 6 feet long, which is furnished with a step, is 
used in certain regions to continue the chip above the height of a man. Often the orchardist holds on by the handle 
of the "rasclet" and works with the hatchet. (Fig. 3.) 

A third form of scraper (la pousse), having a handle 8 feet long, used for the same purpose, has the blade so 
bent as to permit the worker to stand at a distance from the tree, thereby avoiding, while working, the falling bark 
and dripping rosin. (Fig. 5.) 

A shorter scraper (le palot), witli a handle only 3 feet long, replaces the scoop everywhere where the Hugues 
system does away with the dirt. It is used for cleaning, and is also used like a dibble at planting time fur i>lanting 
the acorns. (Fig. 6.) 

A ladder made by cutting steps into a piue sapling, each stop being held by a nail to prevent breaking, is used 
to reach the higher points. 

The products are gathered from the chips or pots to a reservoir established in the forest, in a sort of basket 
with a capacity of about 20 quarts. It is formed by a cylinder of rough cork surrounded with wood, the bottom 
being a round slab, made fast with pegs. The handle is of willow. 

A spatula (I'espatula) is used to remove the resin that adheres to the sides of the pots or transporting vessels. 
(Fig. 7.) 

Plate XXXI. — Turpentine gathering— Hugues system. 

In this plate fig. 1 exhibits the method of gathering turpentine by the Hugues system, and the use of the till 
and pot. While formerly the resin was allowed to rnn into a hole in the sand at the foot of the tree, since 1860, 
when the production was stimul.ated by the closing of the American sources of supply, au improvement on the 
crude method of collecting came into use. It consists iu fixing a bent zinc collar or gutter cut from sheet zinc 8 
inches long and 2 inches wide, with teeth (see figure) across the chip, which acts as a lip, and conducts the liquid 
resin into a glazed earthen pot or a zinc vessel of conical shape suspended below the lip. The pots are 6 inches high, 
4} inches at the opening, and 3 inches at the bottom, and hold about 1 quart. At first placed on the ground they 
are fastened each season above the old chip by means of a nail through a hole or otherwise (see figure). In this way, 
by shortening the distance over which the resin has to flow, the evaporation of the oil is reduced, and there is less 
liability of impurities to fall into the receiver. A cover over the pot is also sometimes used. The pots are emptied 
every fifteen or twenty days with the aid of a spatula (see PI. XXX, fig. 7). The scrape is collected only twice in 
the season, in June and November. 

Another improvement which reduces the amount of evaporation and assures cleaner resin consists-in covering 
the chip with a board. This improvement (Hugues system) is said to yield more and purer resin; the yield is 
claimed to be about one- third larger, aud the difference in price, on account of purity, 80 to 90 cents a barrel, while 
the cost per tree per year is figured at aliont 1 cent; besides, the proportion of scrajie is considerably reduced. This 
(called galipot) is collected by hand, except the hardest impure parts (called barras), of which there is hardly any 



160 FORESTRY INVESTKiATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

in this system of collection. Not more than 17.9 per cent of scrape is expected, as against 29 in tUe American 
practice. 

F'io'ures 2 3 4 show cross sections of trees bled through several periods of years; also the manner in which 
chips are distributed, and healed scars. 

MANAGE5IKNT 01)' TURPENTINE PINERIES. 

When the yield of turpentine falls below a certain minimum, the time has arrived when the 
growth must be regenerated. All trees are then bled " to death " and cut as they give out, and 
the opeuings are seeded with pine seed and the reproduction is completed in four or five years. 
The young forest grows up uniformly, densely, and quickly, and when 10 or 12 years old it becomes 
necessary to thin out and to repeat the operation every five or six years, so that at the age of 20 
the pines are nearly isolated. Then there are about 250 to 280 trees per acre, and bleeding "to 
death " is commenced at the rate of, say, 80 or 85 trees, which are to be taken out during the next 
four or five years. At the age of 25 another 80 are subjected to the operation, and at the age of 
30 there may be left 100 to 125 trees per acre. At this age, when the trees are about 1 foot in 
diameter, bleeding "alive" is commenced on all trees. At the age of 60 to 80 years this number 
has dwindled down by casualties to 80 or even 65. If well managed these trees may last 120 to 130 
years; otherwise, if bled too much, they will succumb in half the time. A rest of a year or more 
every fifth year is necessary to recuperate the trees. When the circumference of the tree has 
been all chipped, the old chips may be opened again. 

In order to produce resin abundantly the trees must stand isolated, their crowns well exposed 
to the sunlight; but it is only necessary that the crowns should just touch, when the trees are 
sufliciently isolated. 

The best producers are the short, stout trees, with -well-developed crown and well set with 
branches. To endure tapping without injury, they should be at least 14 inches in diameter, with 
a bole of 20 to 26 feet to the first limb on the dunes and 40 to 50 feet in the landes. There is no 
definite relatioo between volume and resin production. In fact, there is but little known as to the 
conditions and physiological processes which give rise to the formation of resin, except that full, 
active foliage and heat seem to be essential factors. 

(lATUBRING OF SPRUCE TURPENTINE. 

The wood of the spruce contains few and rather narrow longitudinal resin ducts, but wider 
lateral ducts, which are strongly developed in the liber or new wood fibers. It is these that furnish 
the flow. Hence the methods of extraction used on the pines must be modified. In growths 
80 to 100 years old the yield is about 127 pounds of scrape and 40 pounds of dip per acre. Here 
the scrape is the purer material, and, therefore, more expensive, the dip being more or less impure. 
The operation is harmful to the trees, as it is apt to induce red rot. The pitch known as Burgundy 
pitch is derived from the resin of this species. 

The resin of the spruce has also the property of hardening very quickly on exposure to the 
air; therefore it does not flow readily enough from the chip to permit the methods used in the 
l)ines. In May or June two chips are made at the same time, 3 to 3.J feet in height and only half 
an inch in breadth, on opposite sides of the tree. They are cut with a specially curved sharp 
knife, and deep into the sapwood. In order to prevent stagnant water from collecting at the 
bottom, this is made pointed. The sides of the chip soon form callous, which would prevent the 
flow, and therefore the sides must be renewed every two or three years, or yearly, gradually 
widening the chip, so that after a series of years only two small strips of bark remain between the 
two chips. The renewing of the sides is done in summer, so that they may protect themselves 
before winter sets in by forming new callous. In some localities alternate chips are made every 
two years, instead of enlarging the original one. The bleeding is continued for ten to fifteen 
years, and the yield per tree and year averages 1 pound scrape and 1 J- pounds of dip. 

GATHERING OP LARCH TURPENTINE. 

The larch contains resin ducts of very large diameter, and the resinous contents are found 
mainly in the heartwood. The trees very often contain frost splits in the heart, in which the resin 
collects. The trees are bored into about a foot above the ground in horizontal direction. The 



EFFECT OF BLEEDING ON TIMBER. 161 

borehole, being 1 incli in diameter and reacliing into the center, is closed with a wooden stopper. 
This hole fills up during the summer and the resin is taken out with a half-cylmdrical iron and 
then closed up. One tree will furnish ijer year one-fourth to three-eighths of a pound (120 to 180 
grams) of resin. If the bore-holes were left open from spring to fall, the yield could be increased 
to 1 pound, but the resin would be impure, would contain less spirits of turpentine, and the tree 
would be damaged. One bore-hole sufSces for the whole period of orcharding, which is usually 
carried on for thirty years. With small amount of work and with a price two to three times that 
of the black pine turpentine, and no injury to the trees, this industry is quite profitable in spite 
of the small yield. 

GATHERING FIR TURPENTINK. 

The resin of the firs occurring mainly in isolated resin vesicles or cells and most abundantly 
near the bark (blisters), this is gathered by means of an iron jjot with sharp-pointed till, with 
which the vesicles are pierced. From the European fir in this way the Strasburg turpentine used 
to be gathered; now the practice is nearly abandoned. Tiie Canada balsam is gathered similarly 
from our own fir, Abies balsmnea. 

EFFECTS OF TURPENTINE ORCHARDING ON TIMBER, TREE, AND FOREST, AND SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT ON 

AMERICAN PRACTICE. 

The turpentine industry can be carried on, but usually is not, without detriment to the value 
of the timber, to the life of the tree, and to the condition of the forest. The present practice, how- 
ever, in the United States is not only wasteful but highly prejudicial to present and future 
forestry interests. 

Effect on the timber. — As far as the timber of bled trees is concerned, it has been shown by the 
work of the Division of Forestry that the heartwood, the only part of the tree which is used for 
lumber, is in no way affected directly by the process of tapping. Not only has its strength been 
shown to be in no wise diminished, but since the resin of the heartwood does not participate in 
the flow, being nonfluid, the durability of the timber, as far as it depends on the resinous contents, 
can not be impaired by bleeding. Indirectly, however, by the boxes and large-sized chips, a con- 
siderable loss of timber in the best part of the tree, the butt log, occurs, which is avoidable. The 
parts surrounding the scar are furthermore rendered somewhat harder to work by an excess of 
resin which accumulates on and near the wound, tending to "gnm uj)" tools. Indirectly, also, a 
considerable proj)ortiou of boxed timber becomes defective if not used at once or, if left on the 
stocks exposed for a series of years to destructive agencies, such as fires, followed by fungus 
growth and attack of beetles. The larvae of large Capricorn beetles bore their way through the 
soft wood formed in the shape of callous surrounding the borders of the chip and through and 
beyond the sapwood. Through the innumerable fissures which are caused by repeated fires, air 
and water charged with spores of fungi find entrance into the body of the tree, causing decay, 
the damage increasing every year, so that from this cause alone the timber from a turpentine 
orchard abandoned for ten or fifteen years was at the sawmill found damaged to the extent of 
fully 20 per cent. 

Another prospective loss in timber is occasioned by the tapping of undersized trees which are 
not ready for the saw. Even if the ti'ee survived all the changes of the years following the 
bleeding and healed over the wound, the timber formed after the process, at least in the portion 
of the tree which carried the chip, is inferior and not fit for sawmill jjurposes on account of 
malformations and change of grain. The loss of timber by fire is also only an incidental effect of 
careless management. 

Effect on trees. — No doubt the normal life of the tree is interfered with by bleeding; not that 
the resin is of any physiological significance to the life of the tree, but the wound inflicted in the 
tapping, like any other wound, interferes with and reduces the area of water-conducting tissue. 
This interference may be so slight as practically to have no effect, or so great as to kill the tree 
sooner or later if other conditions are unfavorable. The experience in France shows that with 
care (narrow chips and periods of rest, which i)ermit callousing of the scar) trees may be bled for 
long periods and attain old age (see p. 158); it also shows how fast a tree may be bled to death, if 
this is desired. (See PI. XXX.) 
H. Doc. 181 11 



162 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

While the exudation of the resin covering the excoriated surface and the accumulation of 
resin in the wood near the surface act as an eflicient antiseptic and firm protection against 
atmospheric influences, access of fungi and of insects to the interior of the tree — superior to any- 
callous — it also endangers the life of the tree if exposed to fire, since the resin is highly inflammable, 
and the heat produced by its flame is capable of killing the trees outright. It is, therefore, again, 
this indirect effect which exposes the trees of the turpentine orchard to extra risk, even though 
the operation was carried on with due care and consideration for the vitality of the tree. 

Effect upon the forest. — What has been said regarding the effects upon timber and trees 
applies naturally to the forest as a whole. With proper methods and i^roper care the turpentine 
industry need not be detrimental to the full and i^rofltable utilization or the successful regeneration 
of the forest. In Prance the turpentine orchard is generally as well managed— with exceptions, 
of course — as any other forest property. Unfortunately, the ignorance and carelessness of our 
turpentine gatherers, as well as of the entire community regarding forestry matters, lead to most 
disastrous results. 

The coarse, irrational manner of cutting boxes into the tree for gathering the dip, while 
reducdng the yield of the valuable oil, weakens the foot of the tree, and those receiving more than 
one box or being of small size are generally sooner or later blown down; the broad chips, out of 
proportion to the size and vitality of the tree, cause many to die before they have yielded what 
they could ; the same charge af wastefulness may be made against the methods of chipping and 
of collecting the resin, both of which reduce the yield considerably. But the greatest loss is that 
occasioned by the fires, carelessly handled by the orchardist himself in trying to protect himself 
against it, and still more carelessly allowed by the community to rage over large areas one season 
after another. In the orchard their destructiveness is increased by the broad resinous surfaces at 
the butt of the trees by the blown-down trees and the debris of the dead trees standing or lying 
on the ground. Dr. Mohr observes— 

The trees wliich Lave not been killed outilglit by the fire, or have altogether escaped this danger, are doomed 
to speedy destruction by bark beetles and pineborers, which iind a breeding place in the living trees blown down 
during the summer months, the broods of which rapidly infest the standing trees, which invariably succumb to the 
pest in the same season. Hence, the forests invaded by the turpentine men present, in five or six years after they are 
abandoned, a picture of ruin and desolation painful to behold; and in view of the destruction of the seedlings and 
younger growth, and of the vegetable mold, season after season, all hope for the restoration of forest life is excluded. 

'SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPKOVEMENT. 

No radical improvement on existing practice can, of course, be expected until the turpentine 
orchardists themselves can see that present conditions and methods are detrimental to their 
business, and can persuade the community that it is to the mutual interest of both community 
and orchardist to allay the fire nuisance. 

Forestry — that is, rational use and management for perpetuity of our forest resources — will 
never succeed in our country until our communities discountenance the habits of the savages in 
the use of fire and learn that civilization consists in making nature do more than she voluntarily 
gives; in fact, that it consists in management, not in destruction, of natural resources. 

It is the duty as well as the self-interest of the community to do all in its power to make 
rational management for continuity practicable, and the first step is to insure protection of indi- 
vidual property against loss, be it by depredation or by other preventable causes. Hence, protec- 
tion against fire is a conditio sine qua non, if we would have rational and systematic management 
of our forest resources; for so long as forest property is made extra hazardous by lack of proper 
protection against fire the inducement to rob it of its best parts in the shortest time and then 
abandon it to its fate is too great. 

I would refer here to another part of this rej>ort, in which the general legislation for fire 
protection has been outlined (pp. 183-188). In the States or portions of States in which turijentine 
orcharding is practiced additional provisions would be necessary. 

Kegarding the practice in the technical operation of tapping, legislative regulations are prob- 
ably out of the question, the spirit of our institutions being against interference in the ttse of 
private property except where such use is directly injurious to other persons. Otherwise it 
would be desirable, fur the indirect benefit of the community, and especially its future, to pre- 
scribe lowest size of trees to be tapped and broadest chip permissible. 



IMPROVEMENT IN TURPENTINE ORCHARDS. 163 

The orchardist's own interest, if he owns the forest and proposes to make the most of it, or 
the owner's interest, if he leases it for tnrpentine orchard, would dictate the following considera- 
tions, which I have formulated into a set of instructions : 

(1) Attend to the firing of the brush, when preparing for orcharding, at a season and time 
when a smoldering fire can be kept up which will not kill young growth and will not consume to 
ashes the vegetable mold. 

(2) Abandon the "boxing" system and substitute the movable pot with cover and lip.' (See 
PI. XXX, fig. 1.) By this the tree is less injured or liable to iujury, and a larger amount of valuable 
dip and a smaller proportion of scrape is insured. The cost of making and cornering boxes— a 
wasteful operation— averages about li cents per box, while the cost of pots is very much higher 
(heavy tin or zinc iron pots might be used more cheaply) ; but if the orchard is worked for longer 
time, as proposed in the following, the cost per year will be reduced and amply repaid by better 
yield. 

(3) Tap only trees large euough to make a good saw log, not less than 12 inches at the butt. 
Not only will such trees yield in better proportion to the labor expended, but the younger trees 
when left, after the saw timber fit for the saw has been taken, will assist in the reforestation by 
shedding their seed, and will in a few years have grown to proper size both for profitable tapping 
and profitable lumbering. 

(4) Eeduoe the chip in breadth to not over 3 inches, and rather work more chips at a time on 
the same tree, if good sized; not more, however, than one for each foot in circumference simul- 
taneously, so that a tree- 1 foot in diameter would carry, say, three of these narrow chips, evenly 
distributed. Thus the tree will be kept in full activity and yield more turpentine for a louger 
time. 

(5) Before starting the chip remove the rough bark down to a thin (reddish) skin for the 
breadth of 4 inches and, say, 2 feet in height, or a little wider than the chip is to be, and as high 
as it is to be worked for the season; this is for the purpose of keeping your pots clean of bark 
particles. Start the chip with as small an opening and as low down at the foot of the tree as is 
practicable for attaching the pot, and cut it triangular at the base, so as to allow any water to 
readily flow off, preventing its collection and consequent fungus growth. 

(6) Do the chipping as gradually as possible, remembering that the flow depends mainly upon 
the number of longitudinal ducts cut through transversely and kept open. A rapid increase in 
height of the chip is a useless waste; the chipping is done simply to remove the clogged-up ends 
of the ducts; the removal of one- fourth to one-third or at most one-half inch of new wood every 
five to eight days, according to the weather, will accomplish this end. As to depth, it is useless 
to cut deeper than the sapwood, since the heart does not yield any resin. Whether the French 
method of deepening the chip gradually and only to a depth of one-half inch at most or a cut 
through the entire sapwood at once is, on the the whole, more profitable, comparing labor and 
yield, remains to be ascertained by trial. Where trees are not to be managed for continuous 
bleeding, but are to be exhausted prior to their cutting for saw logs, it would appear proper to 
cut at once through the entire sapwood, using perhaps a sharp chisel for the work of chipping. 
When we have arrived at a time when the orcharding is done in young plantations managed for 
the purpose the more careful chipping of the French may be indicated. 

(7) Do not collect the scrape more than once a year, in August or September, or early enough 
to give the trees a chance to protect their scars before winter sets in; but reduce the amount of 
scrape by using pots and lips and keeping these as close as practicable to the top of the chip. In 
this way the superior yield will pay for the greater care. ' 

(S) Kemember that it is more profitable to prepare for operating a given area for ten to fifteen 
years instead of three to four years, since many necessary expenditures remain the same whether 
the operation is carried on for the shorter or longer period, and hence in the latter case are dis- 
tributed through a longer term. With the above methods and proper care an orchard may be 



1 Since the above was written (in 1892) the pot or cup system has been experimentally tried by J. C. Schuler of 
West Lake, La., the patentee of a special pot, described in Bulletin 13, Division of Forestry. The patentee admits 
the extra cost for a crop of 10,000 cups for two seasons as $460 against $190 under the old system, but the increased 
yield of crude turpentine for the two years is claimed as 195 barrels at $3.50 per barrel or $410 in favor of the cup 
system. 



164 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 

worked i>rofitably four or five times as long as vinder present methods, and hence many precau- 
tions, especially agaiust fire, such as ditches, roads, etc., to arrest the fire, too expensive if the 

V orchard is soon to be abandoned, may be employed with advantage. 

\ (9) If present methods must jirevail and i)rotection against fires can not be had, because the 

community is still too uncivilized or blind to its interests, do not subject your valuable timber to 
turpentine orcharding unless you can dispose of it to a sawmill immediately after the orchard is 
abandoned. Otherwise the loss of timber by fire is apt to wipe out all profits made by the orchard. 

IMPKOVEMENTS IN THE DISTILLATION OF THE CRUDE TURPENTINE BY THE APPLICATION OF STEAM. 

In the ordinary way, the distillation of the crude turpentine, yielding the largest quantity of 
spirits of turpentine and finest quality of rosin, can not be carried to the total extraction of the 
volatile oil without impairing the quality of the residuary x^roduct. The higher grades of rosin 
are still retaining a considerable amount of spirits. To i^reveut such loss distillation by steam 
has been resorted to. This innovation seems, however, not to have received the deserved attention. 
From the latest information it appears that this method has proved completely successful at a 
turpentine distillery in Xew Orleans; there, by its introduction, an increase of fully 30 per cent is 
claimed over the yield of spirits of turpentine obtained by distillation with the open fire, the grade 
of rosin remaining unaffected. 

PRODUCTS OF THE DESTRUCTIVE DISTILLATION OF THE WOOD OF THE LONGLEAF PINE. 

The au'dried wood of the longleaf pine in its normal condition has been found to contain from 
2 to 2f per cent of volatile oil, taking the specific gravity of spirits of turpentine at 0.87 and the 
weight of 1 cubic foot of the air-dried wood at 43 pounds. The spirits is obtained by subjecting 
the wood to the action of superheated steam in the same retorts in which its destructive distilla- 
tion is carried on, a process with which its production direct from the wood is invariably connected, 
and of which it forms the first step. The quantity of spirits of turpentine obtained varies largely. 
As stated by one operator, it differs all the way from 5 to 18 per cent, according to the wood being 
fresh cut or dry, and to the different i^arts of the tree from which it is taken. From the results of 
numerous experiments made on a large scale in different parts of the longleaf-pine region, it can 
be assumed that 1 cord of wood, green and of different degrees of dryness, yields, on the average, 
about 15 gallons of an impure spirits of turpentine. Owing to the presence of empyreumatic 
substances of yellow color it becomes darker on exposure to air and of an empyreumatic odor. It 
is easily freed from its impurities by redistillation ; thus rectified, the i)roduct is perfectly clear, 
colorless, and almost odorless, save a faint woody smell, answering all the purposes for which the 
spirits of turpentine obtained from the rosin is used. In 1881 Mr. William Mepan, of Georgia, 
secured a patent for the utilization of the wood wasted at the sawmills, of the refuse left on the 
ground in the logging camp and in the turpentine orchard, for the production of spirits of turpen- 
tine, jjyroligneous acid, tar, and charcoal. By the operation of the apparatus of the patentee, on 
exhibition at the Atlanta International Exposition (in 1882), 600 pounds of dry, highly resinous 
wood, so-called lightwood, yielded— 

Pounds. 

Spirits of turpeutiue 21J- 

Pyroligneous acid 95 

Heavy oils and tar 150 

Charcoal 127 

Water and gas 206t 

Total 600 

Amounting to a yield by the cord of 24 gallons of spirits of turpentine, 88 gallons of pyrolig- 
neous acid, 120 gallons tarry and heavier oily products, and 56 bushels of charcoal.' 

In several experiments made at the same place slabs taken from the sawmill yielded (to the 
cord) from 12 to 14 gallons of spirits of turpentine, 200 to 250 gallons of weak pyroligneous acid, 
from 64 to 108 gallons of tar and heavier oils, and from 50 to 60 bushels of charcoal. The opera- 
tions subsequently carried on by the same parties in retorts of a capacity of about 6 cords of 

1 Report of awards at the Atlanta International Exposition in 1882. 



DISTILLING WOOD OF PINE. 165 

wood showed similar results. lu tlie attempt made at Mobile by Mr. Maas, about iifteen years 
past, in connection with a sawmill — soon abandoned, however — the results were about the same. 
From a cord of green slabs 12 gallons of turpentine were distilled and 150 gallons of tarry and oily 
substances. The rectified spirits of turpentine was found not to differ sensibly from the product 
of the rosin. At the works of the Yellow Pine Wood Distilling Company at N'ew Orleans, 
worked under the patent and superintendence of Mr. E. Koch, every kind of mill refuse, pine 
knots, stumps, branches, etc., are used. The patentee has kindly furnished the following infor- 
mation about the apparatus employed and the way it is being worked : The material is cut in short 
pieces, loaded in iron cars, which are run into steel retorts, 20 feet long and 8 feet in diameter, 
provided with rails, and holding 3 cords of wood; doors are closed tight, superheated steam is let 
in, and at the same time a moderate fire is started in the furnace. The distillation proper of the 
spirits begins in about six hours at a temperature of 300°, increasing during the next four hours 
to 350°, until the distillate ceases to run; at this stage the steam is shut off and the destructive 
distillation by the open fire is proceeded with; under the gradual increase of the temperature from 
350 to 900 degrees the distillation is continued through the following fifteen hours, the whole 
operation consuming about twenty four hours. The residue in the retort is a charcoal of good 
quality. The quantity of spirits of turpentine obtained from 1 cord varies from 5 to 18 gallons, of 
heavier oils and tarry products known as dead oil or creosote from 60 to 100 gallons, and of 
stronger acid (of a specific gravity 1.02) 60 gallons, or of weaker acids 120 gallons. The gas 
produced is used for fuel. The capacity of this plant is 6 cords of wood in twenty-four hours. By 
the increase in the value of dead oil that has taken place during the past five or six years the 
destructive distillation of the wood of the longleaf pine is placed financially on a more promising 
basis than ever before. If the enormous amount of raw material be considered, which has hereto- 
fore gone to waste at the sawmills and in the forest, but by this process may be turned to a profit- 
able use, this industry is capable of the widest extension, and can not fail to add other resources 
of income to those already derived from the forests of longleaf pine. 

AVith the augmenting demand for the mixture of heavier hydrocarbons and chryselic (phenylic) 
compounds known in the trade as dead oil, creosote, or pine oil for the impregnation of timber for 
the purpose of preventing its decay and destruction by the teredo, the distillation of the wood of 
the longleaf pine is at present carried on with the main object of securing the largest yield of dead 
oil. According to the statements of Mr. Franklin Clark (see Columbia College Quarterly), made 
in his paper on the subject, for this purpose the most resinous wood is preferred with which the 
retorts are charged. 

These retorts, cylindrical in shape, made of wrought-iron or steel plates, and about three times 
as long as they are wide, are of a capacity to receive little over a cord of the perfectly air-dried 
wood. The distillation is effected by the open fire and the condensation of the distillate by the 
ordinary worm condenser. The light oils running over first at a temperature of from 350 to 500 
degrees, of a specific gravity of 0.88 to 0.90, are of a dark-red color; as soon as their density has 
increased to the latter figure they are caught separately. After twelve or fifteen hours, when the 
temperature has reached 600 degrees and the density of the oil is 0.98, with the formation of the 
chryselic compounds the aqueous distillate at this stage shows a higher percentage of acetic acid, 
increasing with the rise of the specific gravity of the oil. The operation is generally finished at a 
temperature not exceeding 900 degrees. The process is terminated at the end of twenty-four hours. 

The charge of the retort, averaging 4,575 pounds of resinous, air-dried wood (little^more than 
a cord), yields — 

Light oil (of sp. gr. 0.875 to 0.95) gallons.. 13 

Heavy pine oil or dead oil (sp.gr. 0.95 to 1.04) do 73+ 

Pyroligueous acid (sp. gr. 1.02) tlo 185 

Or a mean yield of — 

Pyroligneous acid (sp.gr. 1.02) , 1,527 pounds, or 34.37 per cent. 

Total of oily products 729 pounds, or 15.94 per cent. 

Charcoal 1,511 pounds, or 33.04 per cent. 

Gas 761 pounds, or 16.64 per cent. 

On settling, the pine oil— that is, the whole of the oily products of the wood— separates from 
the acid as a black or red oil, with a specific gravity from 0.97 to 1.30. For the purpose of 



166 FORESTRY I^^VESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

creosoting it is subjected to a process of partial distillatiou, by whicli the separation of the 
lighter oil is effected, and the percentage of the phenylic compounds and of the heavy hydro- 
carbons to which the creosoting process owes its merits is increased. 

The pyroligneous acid is of a yellowish or reddish color and contains i per cent of hydrated 
acetic acid. In its crude state it serves for the manufacture of pyroligneate of iron, the so-called 
black dye, and for the xoreparation of acetate of lime, acetate of lead, and pure acetic acid. The 
light oil is used for dark paints, fit to cover metals and stone. It does not work well, however, 
on wood. 

Development of a Forest Policy, 
historical. 

The recognition that attention to satisfactory forest conditions is as necessary as to other 
economic conditions, has existed among a few wise heads since the beginning of the settlement of 
the country. Thus William Penn, the founder and first legislator of Pennsylvania, as early as 
1682, in his ordinances regarding the disposal of lands, stipulated that to every 5 acres cleared 
of forest growth 1 acre of trees should be reserved for forest growths by those who took title 
from him, a provision which was jtrobably soon forgotten. 

In 1640, only two years after its settlement, the inhabitants of Exeter, N. H., adopted a 
general order for the regulation of the cutting of oak timber, a precaution which other towns 
followed. In 1708 the provincial assembly of New Hampshire forbade the cutting of mast trees 
on ungranted lands, under a ijenalty of £100, and at that early time the province had a surveyor- 
general of forests, appointed by royal authority, for the purpose of preventing depredations upon 
timber, 

A noteworthy effort to inculcate rational treatment of our forest resources, which took at 
least its incentive in these earlier times, although it came to a result much later, is that made by 
two noble Frenchmen, botanists, Andre Michaux and his son Andre Francois, who between the 
years 1785 and 1805 explored and studied the forest flora of the United States, and, besides shorter 
discussions on the subject, published a magnificent work on the same, the North American Sylva, 
in three volumes. 

The latter, Andre Frangois Michaux, translated his love and zeal for this studj' into practical 
action by leaving two legacies for the study of silviculture in the United States. 

In his will, dated September 4, 1855, A. F. Michaux made the following provision : 

Wishing to recognize tbe services and good reception Tvhicli my father and myself, together and separately, 
have received during our long and often perilous travels in all the extent of the United Ktates, as a mark of my 
lively gratitude, and also to contribute in that country to the extension and progress of agriculture, and more 
especially of silviculture in the United States, I give and bequeath to the American Philosophical Society of 
Philacielphia, of which T have the honor to be a member, the sum of $13,000; I give and bequeath to the Society of 
Agriculture and Arts in the State of Massachusetts, of which I have the honor to be a member, the sum of $8,000; 
these two sums making 180,000 francs, or, again, $20,000. I give and bequeath the sole ownership to these two 
abovesaid societies, and the usufruct to my wife for her life. 

This bequest did not become available until 1870. The American Philosophical Society at 
Philadelphia, being the trustee of one of the Michaux legacies, has devoted part of its income 
from this fund to aid in the beautification of Fairmount Park, especially by the propagation of 
various species of oaks; another part is devoted to popular lectures on subjects relating to forest 
botany and forestry. 

The bequest to the Massachusetts Society for the Promotion of Agriculture is applied to aid 
the botanical garden at Harvard and the Arnold Arboretum, and to the occasional publication of 
pamphlets on forestry subjects. This society, founded in 1792, has also occasionally tried to 
encourage forest culture by paying premiums for successful forest plantations (especially in 1876). 
As early as 1804 such prizes were ottered. 

A similar society — the Society for Promotion of Agriculture, Arts, and Manufactures — in New 
Tork, founded in 1791, also considered it among its functions to foster forest culture by publishing 
in 1795 a report on the best mode of preserving and increasing growth of timber, an outcome of 
an inquiry by circular letter issued in 1791. 



FORESTRY MOVEMENT IN UNITED STATES. 167 

The Federal Government recognized the need of action as early as 1799 — to be sure, only with 
reference to a certain kind of supplies, namely, for naval construction — by an act approved 
February 25, 1799, appropriating $200,000 for the jjurchase of growing or other timber, or of lands 
ori which timber is growing suitable for the Navy, and for its preservation for future use. Small 
purchases were made on the Georgia coast, but nothing of importance beyond this was done 
until 1817, when, on March 1, another act was passed renewing the act of 1790, directing a 
reservation of such public lands, having a growth of live-oak or cedar timber suitable for the 
Navy, as might be selected by the President. 

Under this act a reservation of 19,000 acres was made on Commissioners, Cypress, and Sis 
islands, in Louisiana. Another appropriation of $10,000 was made in 1828, and some lands 
were purchased on Santa Rosa Sound, where during a few years an attempt at cultivation — 
clearing the ground of roots of other trees, sawing and transplanting and pruning — was made. 
This was done under the more" general act of March 3, 1827, by which the President was 
authorized to take proper measures to preserve the live-oak timber growing on the lands of the 
United States. Provision was furthermore made, by an act apjtroved March 2, 1831, for the punish- 
ment of persons cutting or destroying any live oak, red cedar, or other trees growing on any 
lands of the United States, by a fine of not less than thrice the value of the timber cut and 
imprisonment not exceeding twelve months. 

Under these acts some 244,000 acres of forest land were reserved in Alabama, Florida, 
Louisiana, and Mississippi. (See Report on Forestry, Vol. I.) 

It will be noted that no general conception of the need of a forest policy underlay these 
attemijts at securing suilicient material for a special purpose; material of a kind which was not 
j)lentiful and was then believed a continued necessity for the buildiug of war ships. 

We can now smile at the concern expressed so early by writers in public i^rints with regard 
to the threatened exhaustion of forest supplies. The extent of our forest domain was then entirely 
unknown, and in the absence of railroad communication the location of supplies near the centers 
of civilization was of more moment. Logging tlien was carried on only along the coast and the 
Eastern river courses. Small country mills sawed to order for home consumption or sent material 
to the mouth of the river to be carried by vessel to home and foreign markets. The mills were 
run in the manner of the country gristmills, often in connection with them. This i^etty method of 
doing business lasted until the middle of this century, as is evidenced by the census of 1840, which 
reports 31,560 lumber mills, with a total product valued at $12,943,507, or a little over $400 per 
mill. By 1870 a change had already become apparent, when the product per mill was $6,500, 
which in 1890 had become $19,000, or about three times the value for 1870, with only 21,011 mills 
reported. 

Besides the concentration of the lumber business into large establishments, which these 
figures show, there are other interesting changes indicated in the census figures, which we may 
briefly note here as having a bearing upon the question of the need of a forest ijolicy and the 
cause for its development. While in 1890 the efScieucy of the mill establishments had increased 
to three times what it was in 1870 and nearly fifty times that of 1840, the total product had also 
increased in the twenty years from 1870 to 1890, nearly three times. The capital employed in the 
lumber industry had increased four and one-third times, showing that, while capital became less 
efflcient with concentration, the unit product of labor also became less efficient, in spite of the 
improvement in machinery. While every dollar of capital produced less result, by over 40 per 
cent in 1890, in the value of the product, every dollar of wages also produced less result, by over 
12 per cent, than it did in 1870; but the cost of raw material had increased over 16 per cent. All 
these are signs of the deterioration and exhaustion of supplies. 

It would be difflcult to set a date or mark an event from which the change in the methods of 
the lumber industry, which is now such a stupendous factor in forest decimation, might be reck- 
oned. It came as gradually or as fast as the railway systems ex]>anded and made accessible the 
vast fields of supply in the Northwest, while the supplies of the East were being exhausted. 

' Especially after the war the settlements of the West grew as if by magic; the railroad mile- 
age more than doubled in the decade from 1865 to 1875, and with it the lumber industry developed 

' See "American lumber," by B. E. Fernow, ia One Hundred Years of American Commerce : D. O. Hayues Co., 1895. 



168 FORESTKY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPAETMENT OF AGRICULTUEE. 

by rapid strides into its modern methods and volume. In 1865 the State of New York still fur- 
nished more lumber than any other State; now it supplies only insignificant amounts. - 

In 1868 the golden age of lumbering had arrived in Michigan ; in 1871 rafts filled the Wiscon- 
sin; in 1875 Eau Claire had 30, Marathou 30, and Fond du Lac 20 sawmills, now all gone; and 
mills at La Crosse, which were cutting millions of feet annually, are now closed. By 1882 the 
Saginaw Valley had reached the climax of its production, and the lumber industry of tlie great 
Northwest, with a cut of 8,000,000,000 feet of white pine alone, was in full blast. Southern devel- 
opment began much later to assume large proportions, but by the present time the lumber product 
of the Southern States has grown to proportions equal to those of the Northern States or the 
Great Lakes States, each of the three sections furnishing about equal shares in the enormous 
total cut. 

No wonder that those observing this rapid decimation of our forest supplies and the incredible 
wastefulness and additional destruction by fire, with no attention to the aftergrowth, began again 
to sound the note of alarm. Besides the writings in the daily press and other non-ofldcial publica- 
tionsj we find the reports of the Department of Agriculture more and more frequently calling 
attention to the subject. 

In the report issued by the Patent Office as early as 1849, we find the following significant 
language in a discussion on the influence of forests on water flow and their rapid destruction : 

The waste of valuable timber in the United States, to say nothing of firewood, will hardly begin to be appre- 
ciated until our population reaches 50,000,000. Then the folly and shortsightedness of this age will meet with a 
degree of censure and reproach not pleasant to contemplate. 

The report for 1860 contains a long article by J. G. Cooper on "The forests and trees of 
northern America as connected with climate and agriculture." 

In 1865 the Eev. Frederic Starr discussed fully and forcibly the "American forests, their 
destruction and preservation," in which, with truly prophetic vision, he says: 

It is feared it will be long, perhaps a full century, before the results at which we ought to aim as a nation will 
be realized by our whole country, to wit, that we should raise an adequate supply of wood and timber for all our 
wants. The eviU.iohich are anticipated viU probahlij increase upon us for thirti/ years to come loith tenfold the rapidiiii with 
which restoring or ameliorating measures shall he adopted. 

And again : 

Like a cloud no bigger than a man's hand just rising from the sea, an awakening interest begins to come in 
sio-ht on this subject, which as a question of political economy will place the interests of cotton, wool, coal, iron, 
meat, and even grain beneath its feet. Some of these, according to the demand, can be produced in a few days, 
others in a few months or in a few years, but timber in not less than one generation. The nation has slept because 
the gnawing of want has not awakened her. She has had plenty and to spare, but within thirty years she will bo 
conscious that not only individual want is present, but that it comes to each from permanent national famine of 
wood. 

The article is full of interesting detail, and may be said to be the starting basis for the cam- 
paign for better methods which followed. 

Another unquestionably most influential oflflcial report was that upon Forests and Forestry 
of Germany, by Dr. John A. Warder, United States commissioner to the World's Fair at Vienna 
in 1873. Dr. Warder set forth clearly and correctly the methods employed abroad in the use 
of forests, and became himself one of the most prominent propagandists for their adoption in 
his own country. About the same time appeared the classical work of George P. Marsh, our 
minister to Italy, " The Earth as Modified by Human Action," in which the evil effects on cultural 
conditions of forest destruction were ably and forcibly pointed out. 

The census of 1870 also for the first time attempted a canvass of our forest resources under 
Prof. F. W. Brewer, and the relatively small area of forest became known. All these publica- 
tions had their influence in educating a larger number to a conception and consideration of the 
importance of the subject, so that when, in 1873, the committee on forestry of the American 
Association for the Advancement of Science was formed and presented its memorial to Congress, 
there existed already an intelligent audience, and, although a considerable amount of lethargy 
and lack of interest was exhibited, Congress could be persuaded, in 1876, to establish the agency 



TIMBER CULTURE LAWS. 169 

in the United States Department of Agriculture out of which grew the Division of Forestry, as 
described in the body of the report, a bureau of information on forestry matters. 

While these were the beginnings of an official recognition of the subject by the Federal 
Government, private enterprise and the separate States started also about the same time to 
forward the movement. In 1867 the agricultural and horticultural societies of Wisconsin 
appointed a committee to report on the disastrous effects of forest destruction. In 1869 the 
Maine Board of Agriculture appointed a committee to report on a forest policy for the State, 
leading to the act of 1872 "for the encouragement of the growth of trees," exempting from 
taxation for twenty years lands planted to trees, which law, as far as we know, remained without 
result. About the same time a real wave of enthusiasm with regard to planting of timber 
seems to have pervaded the country, and especially the Western prairie States. In addition to 
laws regarding the planting of trees on highways, laws for the encouragement of timber planting, 
either under bounty or exemption from taxation, were passed in Iowa, Kansas, and Wisconsin in 
1868, in Nebraska and in New York in 1869, in Missouri in 1870, in Minuesota in 1871, in Iowa in 
1872, in Illinois in 1874, in Nevada, Dakota, and Connecticut in 1872, and finally the Federal Gov- 
ernment joined in this kind of legislation by the so-called timber-culture acts of 1873 and 1874, 
amended in 1876 and 1877. 

For the most part these laws remained a dead letter. The encouragement by release from 
taxes, except in the case of the Federal Government, was not much of an inducement, nor does 
the bounty provision seem to have had greater success, except in taking money out of the 
treasuries. Finally these laws were in many cases repealed. 

The timber-culture act was passed by Congress on March 3, 1873, by which the planting of 
timber on 40 acres of land, or a proportionate area in the treeless territory, conferred the title to 
160 acres or a proportionate amount of the public domain. This law had not been in existence ten 
years when its repeal was demanded, and this was finally secured in 1891, the reason being that, 
partly owing to the crude provisions of the law and partly to the lack of proper supervision, it 
had been abused and had given rise to much fraud in obtaining title to lands under false pretenses. 
It is difflcut to say how much imijetus the law gave to bona fide forest planting and how much 
timber-growth has resulted from it. Unfavorable climate, lack of satisfactory plant material, and 
lack of knowledge as to proper methods led to many failures. In 1889 the Division of Forestry 
made an analysis of the figures furnished by the General Land Office, which shows that 38,080,506 
acres were entered under the timber-culture act up to June 30, 1888. This should rei^resent a 
planted area of 2,380,030 acres if the law were. complied with and the entries not changed. 
Allowing ten years for timber-claim planters to jirove up their entries (the law places it at eight 
years, allowing extensions on account of failures), the' entries of the first six years, 1873 to 1878, 
alone give us some points of comparison for the estimation of results. During that time 3,821,843 
acres had been entered, representing a supposed area of less than 50,000 acres planted to timber. 

But in 1888, ten years later, the acreage proved up was only 779,582 acres, or about 20 per 
cent of the land entered, representing perhaps 175,000 acres planted, if the original plantations 
persisted. 

From this it would appear that the timber-culture act has been a failure so far as the creating 
of forests is concerned. 

It is asserted that a better percentage will be obtained from the entries of later years, because 
more experience has been gained, and timber-claim planting was done under contract by persons 
who make a business of it. Yet the consensus of unbiased testimony goes to show that timber- 
claim planting, as a rule, did not produce the results sought after, and has mostly been used as 
a means for speculation in Government lands, partly with that design from the beginning, partly 
as a necessity after failure to obtain the land by timber planting. 

There is also considerable planting of wind-breaks and groves done on homesteads, which is 
said to be attended with better results. Altogether, however, the amount of tree planting is 
infinitesimal, if comj)ared with what is necessary for climatic amelioration ; and it may be admitted, 
now as well as later, that the reforestation of the plains must be a matter of cooperative if not of 
national enterprise. 



170 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 
Original and final entries under timier-cuUure acts until 1SS8. 



State or Territory. 



Final entries. 



Arizona 

Arkansai ... 
California... 

Colorado 

Dakota 

Idaho 

Iowa 

Kansas 

Louisiana . . 
Minnesota -. 

Montana 

Nebraska - . . 

Nevada 

New Mexico 

Orecron 

Utah 

"W"ashin,orton. 
"Wyoming . . . 

Total.. 



6,671 
23, 650 
63, 647 

3,257 



14, 377 
2,555 

48, 589 
42 
1,059 
6,128 
1,048 
7,673 
2,401 



122, 570 

4,416 

856, 076 

3, 498, 351 

11, 500. 026 

427, 017 

75, 514 

8, 738, 944 

96, 342 



,030 



146, 928 
908, 248 
128, 188 
1, 114, 761 
454, 393 



1,606 



2,278 
185, 064 

1,711 
11,505 
206, 146 



104, 758 



6,796 

660 

20, 673 



Private interest of homesteaders and settlers without these aids has probably been as effective. 
lu this direction the establishment of arbor days throughout the States has been a stimulating 
influence. From its inception by Governor J. Sterling Morton and first inauguration by the State 
board of agriculture of N'ebraska in 1872, it has become a day of observance in nearly every State, 
until its adoption as a national holiday may be shortly expected. 

While with the exception of the so-called treeless States, perhaps not much planting of eco- 
nomic value is done, the observance of the day in schools as one set apart for the discussion of 
the importance of trees, forests, and forestry, has been productive of an increased interest in the 
subject. 

To be sure, arbor days have had also a retarding influence upon the practical forestry move- 
ment in leading peoiile into the misconception that forestry consists in tree ijlanting, in diverting- 
attention from the economic question of the proper use of existing forest areas, in bringing into 
the discussion i)oetry and emotions, which have clouded the hardheaded practical issues and 
delayed the earnest attention of ijractical business men. 

The following table exhibits the condition of the Arbor-day movement at the present time: 

ArTjor-day observance in the United States. 



States and TeiTitories. 



JFirst observed. 



By whose appointment. 



When 
legally 



Legal holiday. 



Arkansas 

Califoraia ... 

Colorado 

Connecticut . 

Florida 

Georgia 



Idaho 

Illinois . 
Indiana. 



Indian Territory . 

Iowa 

Kansas 

Kentucky 

Louisiana 

Maine 

Maryland 

Massachusetts — 

Michigan 

Minnesota 

Mississippi 



Missouri . 



Montana 

Nebraska 

Nevada 

New Hampshire . 
New Jersey 



February 22 

First Friday afterFeb- 
ruary 1. 



For schools . . . 



I April. 



For schools . 
Tes 



Variable 

Third Friday 

In spring 

January 8 

First Friday in Decem- 

. ber. 

Last Monday in April . 



Superintendent of public instraction. 



October, usually. 



1888-89 
1887 
1889 
1886 
1876 
1876 
1892 



1887 
1872 
1887 
1886 
1884 



Superintendent of public instruction. 

Maj^or of Topeka 

Legislature 

State superintendent of schools 

Legislature 



Variable 

April, usually . 



Option of parish boards . 



.do. 



Village Improvement Society. 
Governor 

State Forestry Association 

State board of education 



Superintendent of schools . 



April 

Last Saturdayin April. 



Legislature 

Board of agriculture. 
Legislature 



First Friday after 

First Tuesday in 

April. 

Third Tuesdayin April 

April 22 



Legislature. 

Do. 

Governor. 

Superintendent 
of public in- 
struction. 

Do. 



State board of 

education. 
Legislature. 



FORESTRY MOVEMENT IN UNITED STATES. 
Arhor-day observance in the United States — Continued. 



171 



states and Territories. 



New Mexico . 
New York . . . 



Oregon 

Pennsylvania. . . 
Kliode Island . . . 
South Carolina . 
South Dakota... 
Tennessee 



Texas 

Utah 

VeiTuont 

Virginia 

Washington . 
"West Virgini 

"Wisconsin . . . 
"Wyoming 



First observed. 



1893 
1884 
1882 
1392 



1892 
1892 
1883 



By whose appointment. 



Legislature. 



Superintendent of public instruction. 



Legislature. 



Individual action. 

Governor 

Normal College. . . 



Legislature . 



.do. 



Governor 

Village Improvement Society 

A gricultaral College 

Superintendent of jiublic instruction . 

Legislature 



"When 
legally 
estab- 



1887 

1889 
1892 



Legal holiday. 



For schools. - 



Date of annual observ* 



Second Friday i 

March. 
First Friday afte 

May 1. 



Second Friday in April. 



February 22 

B'irst Saturday in April 



Fall and spring. 



By whom iixed. 



Governor. 

Do. 
Superintendent 
of public in- 
struction. 
Legislature. 
Governor. 
Do. 

Do. 
County superin- 
tendent. 
Legislature. 



Superintendent 

of schools. 
Governor. 
Do. 



Private efforts in tlie East in the way of fostering and carrying on economic timber planting 
sliould not be forgotten, sucli as the prizes offered by the Society for the Promotion of Agriculture, 
the planting done by the private landholders at Cape Ood, in Ehode Island, Virginia, and else- 
where. Altogether, however, these efforts have been sporadic and unsystematic, and not on any 
scale commensurate with the destruction of virgin forest resources. 



ASSOCIATED PROPAGANDA. 

The first forestry association organized for the pur])ose of advancing forestry interests was 
formed on January 12, 1876, in St. Paul, Minn., largely through the efforts of Leonard B. Hodges, 
This association was aided by State appropriations, which enabled it to offer premiums for the 
setting out of plantations, and also to publish and distribute widely a Tree Planters' Manual. 
Revised editions are issued from time to time, and a distribution of plant material is also occasion- 
ally attempted, the State aiding to the extent of $1,000 to $2,000 annually. 

In 1875 Dr. John A. Warder issued a call for a convention in Ohicago to form a national 
forestry association. This association was completed in 1876 at Philadelphia, but never showed 
any life or growth. 

In 1882 a number of patriotic citizens at Cincinnati called together a forestry congress, incited 
thereto by the visit and representations of Baron von Steuben, a Prussian forest official, when 
visiting this country on the occasion of the centennial celebration of the surrender of Yorktown. 

A very enthusiastic and representative gathering, on April 25, was the result, lasting 
through the week, which led to the formation of the American Forestry Association. This 
association, holding yearly and intermediate meetings in different parts of the States, has become 
the center of all private efforts to advance the forestry movement. Twelve volumes of its pro- 
ceedings contain not only the history of progress in establishing a forest policy, but also much 
other information of value on forestry subjects. It now publishes a monthly journal, The Forester. 
It is unaided by government, its efforts being entirely borne by private means and the annual dues 
of its membership, its officers doing gratuitous work. It has been especially instrumental in 
bringing about the establishment of the Federal forest reservation policy, which we will note 
further on in detail. 

Other local or State forestry associations were formed more or less under the lead of the 
national association, and exist now in Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, 
New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Dakota, Colorado, 
and Washington, while several other societies, like the Sierra Nevada Club and the Mazamas of 



172 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

the Pacific coast, and State horticultural societies in various States, make the subject one to be 
discussed and to be fostered. 

The most active of these associations, publishing also, since its formation in 188G, a bimonthly 
journal, Forest Leaves (at first less frequently), is the Pennsylvania State Forestry Association, 
•which has succeeded in thoroughly committing its State to a proper forest i^olicy, as far as official 
recognition is concerned. 

PORESTRT COMMISSIONS. 

Usually as a result of this associated private effort various States have appointed forestry 
commissions or commissioners. These commissions were at first for the most part instituted for 
inquiry and to make a rejiort, upon which a forest policy for the State might be framed. Others 
have become permanent parts of the State organization with executive or educational functions. 
Such commissions of inquiry were appointed at various times in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, 
Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, 
North Dakota, Colorado, California; while commissioners or commissions with executive duties 
exist now or did exist for a time in Maine, New Hamjjshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin,' 
Minnesota, Colorado, and California. 

Maine has an efficient forest- fire law (chap. 26 of Revised Statutes) based on that of the State 
of New York, and a forest commissioner (created in 1891, Public Laws, chap. 100) — the State laud 
agent of the State being ex officio designated as such — to look to its execution. The forest 
commissioner has in addition annually a small amount of money appropriated to satisfy the 
requirements of the following two sections of the law : 

Sec. 15. The forest commissioner sliall take sucli measures as the State superinteudent of public scliools and 
the president of the State college of agriculture and the mechanic arts may appro\'6 for awakening an interest in 
behalf of forestry in the public schools, academies, and colleges of the State, and of imparting some degree of 
elementary instruction upon this subject therein. 

Skc. 1G. The forest commissioner shall prepare tracts or circulars of information, giving plain and concise 
advice for the caro of wood lands and for the preservation of forest growth. These publications shall be furnished 
to any citizen of the State upon application. 

Two very interesting and instructive reijorts on the growth of the spruce and on allied subjects 
are the result. 

New Hampshire had a temporary commission of inquiry, appointed in 1881 and reporting 
in 1885; and another such commission in 1889, reporting in 189.'], Avhen the permanent forestry 
commission was created (March 29, 1893) with a paid secretary, who i>ublishes an annual rej^ort. 
The main function of the commission is one of inquiry and suggestion, besides partial supervision 
of the forest-fire law. The acquisition of public parks, if iDrivate munificence should be found 
willing to furnish the necessary funds, is also made a part of the function of the commission. Two 
small areas have been donated.- 

In Massachusetts no special public ofScers are charged with the care of forestry interests, 
and hence the otherwise useful legislation is probably of only partial effect. Its best feature is 
perhaps that of encouraging communities to become owners of forest tracts (chap. 255, acts of 
1882). The city of Boston has made special efforts in this direction, having set aside more than 
7,000 acres for forest parks. The State board of agriculture was, in 1890, ordered to inquire "into 
the consideration of the forests of the State, the need and methods of their iirotection," and 
report thereon, which order did not j)roduce anything of value. A bill to secure such forest 
survey, introduced into the legislature in the year 1897, failed of passage. 

In Vermont a commission of inquiry was instituted in 1882, reporting in 1881 without any 
practical result, the proposed legislation remaining unconsidered. 

In New York a law was passed in 1872 naming seven citizens, with Horatio Seymour, 
chairman, as a State park commission, instructed to make inquiries with the view of reserving 
or appropriating the wild lands lying northward of the Mohawk or so much thereof as might be 
deemed expedient, for a State park. The commission, finding that the State then owned only 
40,000 acres in that region, and that there was a tendency on the part of the holders of the rest 
to combine for the enhancement of values should the State want to buy, recommended a law 
forbidding further sales of State lands and their retention when forfeited for the nonpayment of 
taxes. 



FORESTKY COMMISSIONS — ^NEW YORK. 173 

It was eleven years later, in 1SS3, that this recommendation was acted upon, when the State 
through the nonpayment of taxes by the owners had become possessed of 600,000 acres. 

In 1884 the comptroller was authorized to emi^loy " such experts as he may deem necessary 
to investigate and report a system of forest preservation." The report of a commission of four 
members was made in 1885, but the legislation proposed was antagonized by the lumbering 
interests. The legislature finally passed a compromise bill entitled "An act establishing a forest 
commission, and to define its powers, and for the preservation of forests." 

This legislation, afterward amended, is the most comprehensive of that of any State in the 
Union. 

The original forest commission, appointed under the act of May 15, 18S5, was superseded in 
1895 by the commission of fisheries, game, and forests, under the law of April 25, 1895. This 
law is a comprehensive measure in which allied interests are brought under the control of a single 
board. Under this law the commission consists of five members appointed by the governor with 
consent of the senate, the term of office being five years. The president, who is designated as 
such by the governor, receives a salary of $5,000 per year and traveling exjjenses, and devotes all 
his time to the work of his office. The remaining four commissioners each receive 81,000 per year 
and traveling expenses. The board holds at least four meetings ou designated days each year. 
It has a secretary at $2,000 f»er year, and necessary clerical force. The duties of the board are to 
propagate and distribute food, fish, and game; to enforce all laws for the protection of fish and 
game, and for the jirotection and preservation of the forest reserve. It has full control of the 
Adirondack Park and forest reserve, and is authorized to make rules for its care and safety. 

The commission appoints thirty-five " fish and game protectors and foresters" (hereafter called 
foresters), one of whom is to be known as chief, and two others as his assistants, the chief to have 
direction and control of the entire force. The foresters give bonds for the proper discharge of 
their .duty. The chief forester receives $2,000 per year and traveling expenses; the assistant 
foresters $1,200 each; and the remaining foresters $500 each: all have an extra allowance for 
traveling expenses and each of them receives one-half of all fines collected in actions brought 
upon information furnished by them. It is their duty to enforce all laws and regulations of 
the commission for the protection of fish and game and for the protection and preservation 
of the forest reserve and all rules and regulations for the care of the Adirondack Park. They 
have full power to execute all warrants and search warrants and to serve subpojnas. 

Each forester keeps a record of his official acts and reports a summary of it, with important 
details, monthly to his chief. The monthly payment of salary is contingent upon the receipt 
of tliis report. The chief forester reports to the commission all cases of neglect of duty or 
negligence on the part of the foresters, and he also makes a monthly report of the operations 
of his department. 

The commission may, in its discretion, appoint or remove special foresters recommended by 
any board of supervisors, but such special foresters receive no compensation from the State. All 
peace officers have the same powers as foresters in the enforcement of the fisheries, game, and 
forest law. 

Article XII, chapter 395, Laws of 1895, describes the forest preserve (sec. 270), and defines 
the powers and duties of the commission (sec. 271), whose duty it is to (1) have the cai-e, custody, 
control, and superintendence of the forest preserve; (2) maintain, protect, and promote the 
growth of the forests in the preserve; (3) have charge of the public interests of the State in 
regard to forestry and tree planting, and especially with reference to forest fires in every part 
of the State; (4) possess all the powers relating to the preserve which were vested in the 
commissioners of the land office and in the comptroller ou May 15, 1885; (5) i^rescribe rules and 
regulations affecting the whole or any i^art of the preserve for its use, care, and administration, 
and alter or amend the same; but neither such rules or regulations nor anything contained in 
this article shall prevent or operate to prevent the free use of any road, stream, or water as the 
same may have been heretofore used, or as may be reasonably required in the prosecution of any 
lawful business; (C) take measures for the awakening of an interest in forestry in the schools and 
the imparting of elementary instruction on such subject therein, and issue tracts and circulars for 
the care of private woodlands, etc.; (7) print and post rules for the prevention and suppression of 
forest fires. 



174 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

Section 272 provides that all iucome froin the State forest lands, including receipts for tres- 
passes, shall be paid into tlie State treasury and constitute a fund for the purchase of lands within 
the Adirondack Park. The comptroller shall audit the accounts of the board, and an annual 
report of all its doings shall be made in January of each year. Section 273 provides for the divi- 
sion of lands within the forest preserve in which the State owns an undivided interest, with indi- 
viduals. Section 274 provides for the taxation of the forest preserve. All wild or forest land 
within the forest preserve shall be assessed and taxed at a like valuation and rate as similar lauds 
of individuals within the counties where situated. The assessors shall file with the commission 
and the comptroller a copy of the assessment roll of their towns, and shall state (under oath) 
which and how much of the lands assessed are forest lands and which are lands belonging to the 
State. The comptroller, after hearings, shall "correct or reduce any assessment of State land 
which may be, in his judgment, an unfair proportion to the remaining assessment of land within 
the town," and shall otherwise approve the assessment. No such assessment shall be valid with- 
out the approval of the comptroller. No tax for the erection of schoolhouses or road opening 
shall be valid nnless such erection or openiug is first approved by the board. Payment of taxes 
on State lauds shall be made by the State treasurer crediting the county treasurer with the 
amount of such taxes due on such lands payable on the State tax of the year. Sections 275-279 
and 281 provide for protection against fire, with penalties for violation of same. Section 280 pro- 
vides for actions for trespasses upon the forest preserve. In addition to authorizing the board to 
bring suits for trespass on the lands of the forest preserve the same as a citizen may bring for 
trespass on private lauds, it makes the cutting of trees or removal of any tree, timber, or bark 
from any portion of the preserve a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of $25 for every tree so cut 
or removed. The board is empowered to employ attorneys, with the conseut of the attorney- 
general and comptroller, to prosecute offenders against this act, and such offenders may be 
arrested without warrant (sec. 282). 

Article XIII refers to the Adirondack Park; section 290 defines its limits and adds: "Such 
park shall be forever reserved, maintained, and cared for as ground open to the free use of all the 
people for their health and pleasure, and as forest lands, necessary to the preservation of the 
headwaters of the chief rivers of the State, and a future timber supply; and shall remain part of 
the forest preserve." 

The park is placed in the control and custody of the board of fisheries, game, and forest, 
which is emijowered (1) to contract for the purchase of land within the limits of the park; (2) to 
contract with owners of land situated within the park limits that such lands may become part of 
the park and subject to the provisions of this article in consideration of the exemiition of such 
lands fi'om taxation for State and county purposes, provided that the owners or their grantors 
shall refrain forever from removing any timber except spruce, tamarack, or poplar, 12 inches in 
diameter at three feet from the ground, or fallen, burned, or blighted timber, and obey such other 
conditions of occupancy as may be equitable. Owners may also clear land for agricultural or 
domestic purposes, at the rate of not more than 1 acre within the boundary of each 100 acres 
covered by such contract; (3) to iirescribe and enforce rules for the licensing or regulation of 
guides and other persons engaged in business therein; (4) to lay out roads and paths in the park. 

Contracts mentioned iu this article require the approval of the commissioners of the land 
office, and every conveyance mentioned in this article shall be certified by the attorney-general to 
be in conformity with the contract, and approved by him as to form before acceptance or delivery. 
The law further provides that the board include in its annual report an account of its proceedings 
with reference to the park. 

The legislature of 1897 passed the following important act (approved April 8, 1897), which is 
quoted entire: 

AN ACT to provide for the acquisition of laud iu the territory embraced iu the Adirondack Park, aud making an ajjproiiriation therefor. 
The peox^le of tlic State of New York, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows: 

Section 1. The governor, withm twenty days after this act takes eifect, shall appoint from the commissioners 
of fisheries, game, and forest, and the commissioners of the land office, hy and with the advice aud conseut of the 
senate, three persons to constitute a board to be known as "the forest preserve board." The members of such 
board may be removed by the governor at his pleasure. Vacancies shall be filled In like manner as an original 
appointment. The members of the hoard shall not receive any compensation for their services under this act, but 



FORESTRY LEGISLATION IN NEW YORK. 175 

shall receive their actual and necessary expenses, to be audited by the comptroller. The board may employ such 
clerical and other assistants as it may deem necessary. The forest preserve board annually in the month of January 
shall make a written report to the governor showing in detail all its transactions under this act during the preceding 
calendar year. 

Sec. 2. It shall be the duty of the forest preserve board, and it is hereby authorized, to acquire for the State, by 
purchase or otherwise, land, structures, or waters, or such portion thereof iu the territory embraced in the Adiron- 
dack Park, as defined and limited by the fisheries, game, and forest law, as it may deem advisable for the interests of 
the State. 

Sec. 3. The forest preserve board may enter on and take possession of any land, structures, and waters in the 
territory embraced in the Adirondack Park, the appropriation of which iu its judgment shall be necessary for the 
purposes specified iu section two hundred and ninety of the fisheries, game, and forest law, and in section seven of 
article seven of the constitution. 

Sec. 4. Upon the request of the forest preserve board an accurate description of such lands so to be appro- 
priated shall be made by the State engineer and surveyor, or the superintendent of the State land survey, and 
certified by him to bo correct, and such board or a majority thereof shall indorse on such description a certificate 
stating that the lands described therein ba^'e been appropriated by the State for the purpose of making them a part 
of the Adirondack Park; and such description and certificate shall be filed in the office of the secretary of state. 
The forest preserve board shall thereupon serve on the owner of any real property so appropriated a notice of the 
filing and the date of filing of such description containing a general description of the real property belonging 
to such owner which has beau so appropriated; and from the time of such service the entry upon and appropriation 
by the State of the real property described in such notice for the uses and purposes above specified shall be deemed 
complete, and thereupon such property shall be deemed and be the projjerty of the State. Such notice shall be 
conclusive evidence of au entry and appropriation by the State. The forest preserve board may cause duplicates of 
such notice with an affidavit of due service thereof on such owuer to be recorded iu the books used for recording 
deeds in the office of the clerk of any county of this State where any of the property described therein may be 
situated, and the record of such notice and such i^roof of service shall be evidence of the due service thereof. 

Sec. 5. Claims for the value of the property taken and for damages caused by any such appropriation may be 
adjusted by the forest preserve board if the amount thereof can be agreed upon with the owners of the land appro- 
priated. The board may enter into an agreement with the owner of any laud so taken and appropriated for the 
value thereof and for any damages resulting from such appropriation. Upon making such agreement the board 
shall deliver to the owner a certificate stating the amount due to him on account of such appropriation of his lands, 
and a duplicate of such certificate shall also be delivered to the comptroller. The amount so fixed shall be paid by 
the treasurer upon the warrant of the comptroller. 

Sec. 6. If the forest preserve board is unable to agree with the owner for the value of the property so taken or 
appropriated, or on the amount of damages resulting therefrom, such owner, within two years after the service upon 
him of the notice of appropriation as above specified, may present to the court of claims a claim for the value of 
such land. and for such damages, and the court of claims shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine such claim 
and render judgment thereon. Upon filing in the office of the comptroller a certified copy of the final judgment of 
the court of claims, and a certificate of the attorney-general that no appeal from such judgment has been or will be 
taken by the State, or, if au appeal has been taken, a certified copy of the final judgment of the appellate conrt, 
affirming in whole or in part the judgment of the court of claims, the comptroller shall issue his warrant for the 
payment of the amount due the claimant by such judgment, with interest from the date of the judgment until the 
thirtieth day after the entry of such final judgment, and such amount shall be paid by the treasurer. 

Sec. 7. The owner of land to be taken under this act may, at his option, within the limitations hereinafter 
prescribed, reserve the spruce timber thereon ten inches or more in diameter at a height of three feet above the 
ground. Such option must be exercised within six months after the service upon him of a notice of the 
appropriation of such land by the forest i^reserve board, by serving upon such board a written notice that he elects 
to reserve the spruce timber thereon. If such a notice be not served by the owner within the time above specified, 
he shall be deemed to have waived his right to such reservation, and such timber shall thereupon become and be 
the property of the State. In case land is acquired by purchase, the spruce timber and no other may be reserved 
by agreement between the board and the owner, subject to all the provisions of this act in relation to timber 
reserved after an appropriation of land by the forest preserve board. The presentation of a claim to the court of 
claims before the service of a notice of reservation shall be deemed a waiver of the right to such reservation. 

Sec. 8. The reservation of timber and the manner of exercising and consummating such right are subject to the 
following restrictions, limitations, and conditions: 

1. The reservation docs not include or affect timber within twenty rods of a lake, pond, or river, and such 
timber can not be reserved. Roads may be cut or built across or through such reserved space of twenty rods, under 
the supervision of the forest preserve board, for the purpose of removing spruce timber from adjoining land, and 
the reservation of spruce timber within such space shall be deemed a reservation by the owner, his assignee, or 
representative, of the right to cut other timber necessary in constructing such road, but such reservation does not 
confer a right to remove such other timber so cut, or to use it otherwise than in constructing a road. 

2. The timber reserved must be removed from the laud within fifteen years after the service of notice of reser- 
vation, or the making of an agreement subject to regulations to be prescribed by the forest preserve board; but 
such land shall not be cut over more than once, and the said board may prescribe regulations for the purpose of 
enforcing this limitation. All timber reserved and not removed from the land within such time shall thereupon 



176 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

become and he the property of the State, and all the title or claim thereto hy the original owner, his assigns or 
representatives, shall thereupon be deemed abandoned. 

Sec. 9. A person who reserves timber as herein provided is not entitled to any compensation for the value of 
the land purchased or taken and appropriated by the State, nor for any damages caused thereby, until : 

1. The timber so reserved is all removed and the object of the reservation fully consummated; or 

2. The time limited for the removal of such timber has fully elapsed, or the right to remove any more timber is 
waived by a written instrument filed with the forest preserve board; and 

3. The forest preserve board is satisfied that no trespass on State lands has been committed by such owner or 
his assigns or representatives; that no timber or other property of the State not so reserved has been taken, 
removed, destroyed, or injured by him or them, and that a cause of action in behalf of the State does not exist 
against him or them for any alleged trespass or other injury to the property or interests of the State ; and 

4. That the owner, his assignee, or other representative has fully complied with all rules, regulations, and 
requirements of the forest preserve board concerning the use of streams or other property of the State for the pur- 
pose of removing such timber. 

Sec. 10. A warrant shall not be drawn by the comptroller for the amount of compensation agreed upon between 
the owner and the forest preserve board, nor for the amount of a judgment rendered by the court of claims, until a 
further certificate by the board is filed with him to the elfect that the owner has not reserved any timber or that he, 
his assignee, or other representative, has complied with the provisions of this act, or has otherwise become entitled 
to receive the amount of the purchase price, award, or judgment. 

Sec. 11. The forest preserve board may settle and adjust any claims for damages due to the State on account of 
any trespasses or other injuries to property or interests of the State, or penalties incurred by reason of such tres- 
passes or otherwise, and the amount of such damages or penalties so adjusted shall be deducted from the original 
compensation agreed to be paid for the lands, or for damages, or from a judgment rendered by the court of claims on 
account of the appropriation of such land. A judgment recovered by the State for such a trespass or for a penalty 
shall likewise be deducted from the amount of such compensation or judgment. 

Sec. 12. If timber is reserved upon land purchased or appropriated as provided by this act, interest is not 
payable upon the purchase price or the compensation which may be awarded for the value of such land or for 
damages caused by such appropriation, except as provided in section six. 

Sec. 13. Persons entitled to cut and remove timber under this act may use streams or other waters belonging 
to the State within the forest preserve for the purpose of removing such timber, under such regulations and condi- 
tions as may be prescribed or imposed by the forest preserve board. The persons using such waters shall be liable 
for all damages caused by such use. 

Sec. 14. If timber be reserved, its value at the time of making an agreement between the owner and the forest 
preserve board for the value of the land so appropriated aud the damages caused thereby, or at the time of the 
presentation to the court of claims of a claim for such value and damages, shall be taken into' consideration in 
determining the compensation to be awarded to the owner on account of such appropriation either by such agree- 
ment or by the judgment rendered upon such a claim. 

Sec. 15. The forest preserve board may appoint inspectors to examine the lands upon which timber is reserved 
and ascertain and report to the Ijoard, from time to time, or whenever required, whether such timber is being 
removed in accordance with the provisions of this act, whether any trespasses or other violations of this act are 
being committed, and whether the persons entitled to the use of such waters for the purpose of removing timber 
have complied with the regulations and conditions relating thereto prescribed or imposed by the board. 

Sec. 16. The forest preserve board shall fix the compensation of all clerks, inspectors, or other assistants 
employed by it, which compensation shall be i>aid by the treasurer, upon the certificate of the board and the audit 
and warrant of the comptroller. A person so appointed may be removed at the pleasure of the board. 

Sec. 17. The forest preserve board shall take such measures as may be necessary or proper to perfect the title 
to any lands in the forest preserve now held by the State, and for that purpose may pay and discharge any valid lien 
or incumbrance upon such land, or may acquire any outstanding or apparent right, title, claim, or interest which, 
in its judgment, constitutes a cloud on such title. The amounts necessary for the purpose of this section shall be 
paid by the treasurer upon the certificate of the board and the audit and warrant of the comptroller. 

Sec. 18. If an offer is made by the forest preserve board for the value of land appropriated, or for damages 
caused by such appropriation, and such offer is not accepted, and the recovery in the court of claims exceeds the 
ofl'er, the claimant is entitled to costs and disbursements as in an action in the supreme court, which shall be allowed 
and taxed by the court of claims and included in its judgment. If in such a case the recovery in the court of claims 
does not exceed the offer, costs, and disbursements to be taxed shall be awarded in favor of the State against the 
claimant and deducted from the amount awarded to him, or if no amount is awarded judgment shall be entered in 
favor of the State against the claimant for such costs and disbursements. If an offer is not accepted, it can not be 
given in evidence on the trial. 

Sec. 19. When a judgment for damages is rendered for the appropriation of any lands or waters for the pur- 
poses specified in this act, aud it appears that there is any lien or incumbrance upon the property so appropriated, 
the amount of such lieu shall be stated in the judgment, and the comptroller may deposit the amount awarded to 
the claimant in any bank in which moneys belonging to the State may be deposited to the account of such judgment, 
to be paid aud distributed to the persons entitled to the same as directed by the judgment. 

Sec. 20. If a person cuts down or carries off any wood, bark, underwood, trees, or timber, or any part thereof, 
or girdles or otherwise despoils a tree in the forest preserve, without the permission of the forest preserve board, an 
action may be maintained against him by the board in its name of office and in such an action the board may recover 

f 



FORESTRY COMMISSIONS PENNSYLVANIA. 177 

treble damages if demanded in the complaint. Every such person also forfeits to the State the suiii of twenty-five 
dollars for every tree cut down or carried aAvay by him or under Lis direction, to be recovered in a like action by the 
forest preserve board. All sums recovered in any such action shall be paid by the board to the State treasurer and 
credited to the general fund. 

Sec. 21. Service of a notice by the forest preserve board under section four must be personal if the person to be 
served can be found in the State. The provisions of the code of civil procedure relating to the service of a summons 
in an action in the supreme court, except as to publication, apply, so far as practicable, to the service of such a 
notice. If a person to be served can not with due diligence be found in the State, a justice of the supreme court 
may, by order, direct the manner of such service, and service shall be made accordingly. 

Sec. 22. The court of claims, if requested by the claimant or the attorney-general, shall examine the real 
property affected by the claim and take the testimony in relation thereto in the county where such property or part 
thereof is situated. The actual and necessary expenses of such judge and of each ofiScer of the court in making 
such examination and in so taking testimony shall be audited by the comptroller and paid from the money appro- 
priated for the purposes of this act. 

Sec. 23. The power to appropriate real property, vested in the forest preserve Jjoard by section four, is subject 
to the following limitations: Such real property must adjoin land already owned or appropriated by the State at the 
time the description and certificate are filed in the office of the secretary of state, except that timber land not so 
adjoining State laud may be axjpropriated vrhenever in the judgment of the board timber thereon other than spruce, 
pine, or hemlock is being cut or removed to the detriment of the forest or the interests of the State. 

Sec. 2i. The sum of six hundred thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropri- 
ated for the purposes specified in this act, out of any moneys in the treasury not otherAvise appropriated. In addition 
to the amount above appropriated, the comptroller, upon the written request of the forest preserve board, is hereby 
authorized and directed to borrow, from time to time, not exceeding in the aggregate the sum of four hundred 
thousand dollars for the purposes specified in this act, and to issue bonds or certificates therefor payable within ten 
years from their date, bearing interest at a rate not exceeding five per centum per annum, and which shall not be 
sold at less than par. The sums so borrowed are hereby appropriated, p.ayable out of the moneys realized from the 
sale of such bonds or certificates, to be expended under the direction of the forest preserve board for the purposes of 
this act, and to be paid by the treasurer on the warrant of the comptroller. 

Sec. 25. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent with this act are hereby repealed. 

Sec. 26. This act shall take eft'ect immediately. 

Under this act the State spent last year §1,000,000 in purchasing forest lands to the amount 
of over 250,000 acres, so that the total holdings comprise now over 1,000,000 acres; and during 
the present year (1898) another half million dollars is being disbursed for the same purpose. 

In 2^ew Jersey the appropriations for the State geological survey have since 1894 contained a 
clause which provides that the State geologist shall malie (1) a survey to ascertain the extent, 
location, and character of the wild lands or forest lauds of the State, and the advantages of their 
retention iu forestry; (2) a survey of the more important watersheds or drainage basins and their 
forested areas, with reference to the protective measures needed to save this forest cover and 
thereby maintain the purity of the water, as well as promote the more equable flow of the streams; 
(3) a study of the relations of forests as climatic factors, and particularly to the rainfall; (4) a 
compilation of the forest legislation in other States and countries in so far as it may be applicable 
to conditions in Kew Jersey. 

Two reports have been published discussing forest conditions in various parts of the State, 
effects of forest fires, relation of forests to stream-flow, etc. 

In Pennsylvania, through the eftbrts of the State forestry association, a commission of inquiry 
was first created by the following act on May 23, 1893: 

AN ACT relative to a forestry comiuissiou. 

Be it enacted, etc. : 

Section 1. That the governor be authorized to appoint two persons as a commission, one of whom is to be a 
competent engineer, one a botanist, practically acquainted with the forest trees of the Commonwealth, whose duty 
it shall be to examine and report upon the conditions of the slopes and summits of the important watersheds of the 
State, for the purpose of determining how far the presence or absence of the forest cover may be iufiuential in 
producing high and low-water stages in the various river 'basins; and to report bow much timber remains standing 
of such kinds as have special conmiercial value, how much there is of each kind; as well, also, as to indicate the part 
or parts of the State where each grows naturally, and what measures, if any. are being taken to secure a supply of 
timber for the future. It shall further be the duty of said commission to suggest such measures in this connection as 
have been found of practical service elsewhere in maintaining a proper timber supply, and to ascertain, as nearly as 
practicable, what proportion of the State not now recognized as mineral land is unfit for remunerative agriculture 
and could with advantage be devoted to the growth of trees. 

Sec. 2. The said commission shall also ascertain what wild lands, if any, now belong to the Commonwealth, 
their extent, character, and location, and report the same, together with a statement of what part or parts of such 

H. Doc. 181 12 



178 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

lands -would lie suitable for a State forest reserve; and further, should the lands belonging to the Common-svealtb 
be insufficient for such purpose, then to ascertain and report what other suitable lauds there may be within the State, 
their extent, character, and value. The final report of the said commission shall be presented to the legislature not 
later than March 15, 1895. 

Sec. 3. The said commission shall have power to appoint one competent person to act as statistician, whose duty- 
it shall be' to compile the statistics collected by said commission, under their direction and suj)ervision, whose salary 
shall be one thousand dollars per annum, with necessary expenses, to be paid in the same manner as is hereinafter 
provided for the payment of the forestry commission. 

Sec. 4. The commissioners appointed hereunder shall be entitled to receive by quarterly payments a compen- 
sation as follows: The engineer, twenty-five hundred dollars ($2,500) per annum ; the botanist, twenty-five hundred 
dollars ($2,500) per annum, with necessary expenses; and the sum of twenty thousand dollars ($20,000) is hereby 
aijpropriated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to be paid by warraut drawn by the 
auditor-general. 

Before the report of this commission was published the legislature of 1895 iirovided for an 
executive department of agriculture, and included in its organization a provision for a division of 
forestry, the botanist member of the previous commission, Dr. J. T. Rothrock, being appointed 
commissioner of forestry : 

The law creating a department of agriculture was approved by the governor March 13, 1895. 
The chapters referring to forestry are as follows : 

Be it enacted bi/ the senate and house of representatives of the Commonwealth of Pennsi/lvania in general asaemhly met, 
and it is hereJ>y enacted iy authority of the same: 

Section 1. That there be, and hereby is, established a department of agriculture, to be organized and admin- 
istered by an officer who sh.all be known as the secretary of agriculture, who shall be appointed by the governor, 
by and with the advice and consent of the senate, for the term of four years, at an annual salary of three thousand 
five hundred dollars, and who, before entering upon tlie duties of his office, shall take aud subscribe the oath pre- 
scribed in article seven of the constitution. Said secretary shall be ex officio secretary of the State board of agri- 
culture, and shall succeed to all the powers and duties now conferred by law upon the secretary of said board. 

Sec. 2. That it shall be the duty of the secretary of agriculture, in such Av.ays as he may deem fit aud proper to 
encourage and pi'omote the development of agriculture, horticulture, forestry, and kindred industries, to collect aud 
publish statistics and other information in regard to the agricultural industries and interests of the State. * * * 
In the performance of the duties prescribed by this act the secretary of agriculture shall, as far as practicable, 
* * * enlist the aid of the State geological survey for the purpose of obtaining and publishing useful informatidn 
respecting the economical relations of geology to agriculture, forestry, and kindred industries. He shall make an 
annual report to the governor, aud shall publish from time to time such buUetius of information as he may deem 
useful and advis.able. Said report aud bulletins shall be printed by the State printer in the same manner as other 
public documents, not exceeding five thousand copies of any one bulletin. 

Sec. 3. That it shall be the duty of the secretary to obtain and publish information respecting the extent and 
condition of forest lands in this State, to make and carry out rules aud regulations for the enforcement of all laws 
designed to protect forests from fires and from all illegal depredations and destruction, and report the same annu- 
ally to the governor, and, as far as practicable, to give information and advice respecting the best methods of pre- 
serving woodlands and starting new plantations. He shall also, as far as practicable, procure statistics of the 
amount of timber cut during each year, the purposes for which it is used, and the amount of timber land thus 
cleared as compared with the amount of land newly brought under timber cultivation, and shall in general adopt 
all such measures as, in his judgment, may. be desirable and effective for the preservation and increase of the timber 
lands of this State, aud shall have direct charge and control of the management of all forest lauds belonging to the 
Commonwealth, subject to the provision of law relative thereto. ' ' ' 

Sec. 4. There shall be one deputy secretary, who shall be appointed by the governor for the term of four years, 
at a salary of three thousand dollars a year, who shall also be director of farmers' institutes. The other officers of 
the department shall be appointed by the governor for the term of four years, and shall be an economic zoologist, a 
commissioner of forestry, a dairy and food commissioner, who shall have practical experience in the manufacture 
of dairy products, and a State veterinarian, who shall be a graduate of some reputable veterinai-y college, who shall 
receive an annual salary of t-wenty-five hundred dollars each. ♦ * » The governor is hereby authorized to 
appoint one chief clerli of the department, at an annual salary of sixteen hundred dollars, a stenographer, at a 
salary of eight hundred dollars a year, and one messenger, at a salary of six hundred dollars a year, and the dairy 
and food commissioner, the commissioner of forestry, and the economic zoologist shall each have a clerk, who shall 
be appointed by tlie governor aud who shall serve under the direction of the respective commissioners aforesaid and 
receive a salary of fifteen hundred dollars a year each. 

Sec. 6. That the secretary may, at his discretion, employ experts for special examinations or investigations, 
the expenses of which shall be paid by the State treasurer in the same manner as like expenses are provided by 
law, but not more than five tliousand dollars shall be so expended in any one year. In this annual report to the 
governor he may include so much of the reports of other organizations as he shall deem proper, which shall take the 
place of the present agricultural reports and of which thirty-one thousand sis hundred copies shall be published 
and distributed as follows: To the senate, nine thousand copies; to the house of representatives, twenty thousand 



FORESTRY COMMISSIONS — PENNSYLVANIA. 179 

copies; to the secretary of agriculture, two thousand copies; to the State librarian, for distribution among public 
libraries and for reserve work, iive hundred copies; and to the State agricultural experiment station, one hundred 
copies. 

Sec. 7. That the secretary of agriculture shall have an offlce at the State capitol, and it is hereby made the 
duty of the commissioners of public buildings and grounds to provide the necessary rooms, furniture, and apparatus 
for the use of the department. 

Sec. 8. That all acts or parts of acts inconsistent herewith be, and the same are hereby, rejiealed. 

The legislature of 1897, iu addition to passing — 

An act making constables of townships ex officio fire wardens for the extinction of forest tires, and for 
reporting to the court of CLuarter sessions violations of the laws for the protection of forests from fire, prescribing 
the duties of such fire wardens and their jiunishment for failure to perform the same, and empowering them to 
require, under penalty, the assistance of other persons in the extinction of such fires; 

and 

An act to amend the first section of an act entitled "Au act to protect timber lands from fire," approved 
the second day of .June, anno Domini one thousand eight hundred and seventy, providing for a penalty iu case of 
the failure of county commissioners to comply with the terms of said act, after demand made upon them by the 
commissioner of forestry, and providing for the Commonwealth bearing part of the expenses incurred under said act ; 

also, 

An act to authorize constables and other peace ofiScers, without first procuring a warrant, to arrest persons 
reasonably suspected by them of ofl'enJing against the laws protecting timber lands — 

enacted the following laws, thus firmly establishing a forest policy for the State. 

AN ACX for the preservation of forests and partially relieving forest lands from taxation. 

Be it enacted, etc. : 

Section 1. That in consideration of the public benefit to be derived from the retention of forest or timber 
trees, the owner or owners of land in this Commonwealth having on it forest or timber trees of not less than fifty 
trees to the acre, and each of said trees to measure at least eight inches in diameter at a height of six feet above the 
surface of the ground, with no portion of the said land absolutely cleared of the said trees, shall, on making due 
proof thereof, be entitled to receive annually from the commissioners of their respective counties during the period 
that the said trees are maintained in sound condition upon the said land a sum equal to eighty per centum of all 
taxes annually assessed and paid upon the said land, or so much of the said eighty per centum as .shall not exceed 
the sum of forty-five cents per acre: Provided, however, That no one property owner shall be entitled to receive said 
sum on more than fifty acres. 

Sec. 2. All acts or parts of acts inconsistent herewith are hereby reijealed. 

AN ACT autliorizing the purchase by the Commonwealth of unseated lands for the nonpayment of taxes for the xjurpose of creating a 

State forest reservation. 

Beit enacted, etc.: 

Section 1. That from and after the first day of January, anno Domini one thousand eight hundred and 
ninety-eight, whenever any unseated lands within this Commonwealth shall, under existing laws, become liable to 
sale by the respective county treasurers or the county commissioners for non-payment of taxes, it shall be the duty 
of such treasurers and commissioners to publish a notice once a week for six successive weeks in at least two 
newspapers of general circulation within the county iu which the lauds lie, and if two newspapers be not published 
in said county, then in one newspaper in or nearest to the same, which notice shall contain the names of the owners 
when known, the warrant numbers, uames of warrantees when known, the numlier of acres contained in each tract, 
the township in Avhich the same is located, and the .sums due upon each tract for taxes, and, further, to mail to the 
secretary of agriculture and the commissioner of forestry each ten copies of such printed advertisement immediately 
upon the publication thereof. 

Sec. 2. It shall be the duty of the commissioner of forestry to inquire into and examine the location and 
character of the lands so advertised, and if in his judgment the same are so located and are of such a character as 
to make them desirable to the Commonwealth for the purpose of creating and maintaining a forestry reservation, 
he shall have power, at bis discretion, to purchase any such lauds for and in behalf of the Commonwealth at such 
tax sales, subject to the right of redemption under existing laws: Provided, hoivevev, Th.at the bid made and the 
price paid for said lauds shall in no case exceed the amount of taxes for the nonpayment of which the same are 
being sold, and the costs. For all purchases so made in behalf of the Commonwealth the auditor-general shall 
draw his warrant upon the State treasurer to the order of the county treasurer, upon certificate filed by the 
commissioner of forestry with the said auditor-general. 

Sec. 3. In the event of redemption of said lauds, the redemption money paid shall be remitted to the State 
treasurer by the county treasurer, with a statement describing the tract of land so redeemed. 

Sec. 4. The title to all lands so purchased, and not redeemed after the expiration of the time limited for 
redemption, shall be taken as vested in the Commonwealth to the same extent and with like effect as though such 
purchase had been made by an individual at such sale, and the county treasurer shall certify to the secretary of 
agriculture lists of all lauds purchased iu behalf of the Commonwealth and not redeemed within the time limited 



180 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

for such redemiJtion, with a description of each tract as required by section one of this act, and thereafter such 
lands shall not he subject to f'jrther taxation while the same are owned by the Commonwealth. It shall be the duty 
of the secretary of agriculture to keep a record in a book, to be especially provided for that purpose, of all the lands 
so acquired by the Commonwealth, with full description of each tract, the character of the same, the date of 
purchase, the price paid, when the title became absolute, or, if redeemed, the date of redemption. 

Sec. 5. The lands so acquired b^^ the Commonwealth shall be under the control and management of the 
department of agriculture, but assigned to the care of the division of forestry, and shall become part of a forestry 
reservation sy.stem having in view the preservation of the water supply at the sources of the rivers of the State, and 
for the protection of the people of the Commonwealth and their property from destructive floods. 

Sec. 6. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed. 

Approved the 30th day of March, A. D. 1897. 

AN ACT to secure State forestry reservations, and providing for the expenses tliereof. 

Be it enacted, etc.: 

Section 1. That a commission, to be composed of the commissioner of forestry, the chairman of the State 
board of health, the deputy secretary of internal affairs, and two other persons, one of whom shall be a lawyer or 
conveyancer of at least ten years' professional experience, and the other one a practical surveyor, to be appointed 
by the governor, he hereby created. 

Sec. 2. The said commission shall, after examination, locate and report to the governor, or to the legislature if 
it be in session, the following forestry reservations: 

(1) One of not less than forty thousand acres upon waters which drain mainly into the Delaware River. 

(2) One of not less than forty thousand acres upon waters which drain mainly into the Susquehanna River 

(3) One of not less than forty thousand acres upon waters which drain mainly into the Ohio River. 
ProHded, That each of these reservations shall he in one continuous area so far as the same is practicable. 
Sec. 3. That the lands selected shall be of a character better suited to the growth of trees than to mining or 

agriculture, and that at least fifty per centum of the area of each reservation shall have an average altitude of not 
less than six hundred feet above the level of the sea. 

Sec. 4. That the said commission shall have full power to take by right of eminent domain and condemn the 
lands it has selected for the purposes aforesaid as State reservations for the use and behoof of the Commonwealth, 
and wherever it shall be necessary to have a recourse to a jury to assess the damages for any property to be taken 
as aforesaid the said jury shall consist of such number and shall proceed, and their award shall be reviewed 
and enforced, in the same manner as now provided by law for the taking of land for the opening of roads in the 
respective counties in which said property is situated. And all the lands acquired by tlie State for public reserva- 
tions by the action of said commission shall be paid for by the State treasurer, upon a warrant drawn by the auditor- 
general of the Commonwealth, after approval by the governor. 

Sec. 5. The commissioners appointed under this act shall serve without compensation, except so far as the 
officials designated hereby are compensated by the continuance of their salaries as such officials while serving as 
commissioners; but the necessary expenses of travel and all other necessary expenses incurred under the provisions 
of this act shall he paid by the State treasurer, on the warrant of the auditor-general, after due certification. 

Sec. 6. Provided, That nothing herein contained shall authorize the taking, for the purpose of this act, of any 
land held by any corporation created for the purpose of the preservation of forests. 

Approved the 25th day of May, A. D. 1897. 

The forest reservations provided by this law have been in part and will soon be all located. 
It is already being realized that their area is too small and that increase at once is indicated. 

In North Carolina a similar provision to that in New Jersey has existed since 1891 in the laws 
appropriating for the State geological survey, requiring of the same reports on the forest resources. 
Three bulletins (Nos. 5, 6, and 7) have been published, one on the "Forest, forest lands, and 
forest products of eastern North Carolina," another on "Forest iires: Their destructive work, 
causes and prevention," and the third giving a comprehensive survey of the " Timber trees and 
forests of North Carolina." 

In the West Virginia legislature a well-considered bill was introduced last year providing for a 
forest commission and State forest reserves. The State geological survey has functions similar to 
that of North Carolina. 

In Ohio a forestry bureau was instituted in 1885, its functions being of an educational and 
advisory nature. It published four or five annual reports containing information on a variety of 
subjects, but for a number of years these reports, and probably the bureau, have been discontinued. 

Michigan had a commission of inquiry, created in June, 1887, by constituting the State board 
of agriculture a forestry commission for the purpose of formulating the needed legislation. The 
report of this commission, published in 1888, remained without any active measure as a 
consequence. 



FORESTRY COMMISSIONS — WISCONSIN. 181 

The latest legislation for a commission of inquiry was enacted in Wisconsin in 1S07: 

AN ACT to provide for a committee to draw up a plan to protect and iitilize the forest resources of tlie State of Wisconsin. 

Thepeople of the State of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assevMij, do enact as follows: 

Section. 1. Tbe governor is hereby authorized to appoint a commiasion consisting' of three members who shall 
devise and draw np a plan for the organization of a forestry department, which shall have the management of snch 
State lands as may be suitable for timber culture and forestry. Tbe said commissioners shall embody in their plan 
provisions for the clasaiBcation of the lauds now owned by the State and the reservation to tbe State of all lands 
which are better fitted for the growing of timber than for agricultural purposes ; tbe purchase of similar lands which 
may have been abandoned by their owners, or may have been struck off to counties for unpaid taxes ; the management 
of the forests existing on such lands according to the principles of scientific forestry; the re]danting of forests on 
such lands, as far as they have been denuded of their timber ; and such other provisions as may be deemed advisable. 
They shall aim at devising the best means by which the forest resources of the State can be utilized for the people 
and preserved for future generations without retarding the development of the agricultural, manufacturing, and 
mining industries; shall have regard to the influence which the maintaining of forests has upon the climate and 
water supply of the State; and shall draw up a plan by which the forestry department may be from the first self- 
supporting and in time become a source of revenue to the State. Tbe report of said commissioners shall be submitted 
to the legislature of the State at its next regular session, within the first ten days after the beginning thereof, in 
the form of a bill or bills. 

Sec, 2. Said bill or bills may be accompanied by a report explaining tbe provisions of such bill or bills and 
giving the reasons for any of the provisions contained therein. The said bill or bills, together with such report, 
shall be printed by tbe State printer at tbe expense of the State in not more than five hundred copies, and shall be 
distributed to such persons as the governor may direct. 

Sec. 3. The said commissioners shall receive no compensation for their services, but shall be entitled to their 
actual and necessary expenses, including clerk hire, which expenses and clerk hire shall not, in the aggregate, exceed 
two hundred and iifty dollars, to be paid by the State treasurer upon warrants drawn by the secretary of state, upon 
verified statements made by the chairman of such commission. The superintendent of public property shall furnish 
such commission with the suitable and necessary stationery for the performance of such work. 

Sec. 4. There is hereby appropriated, out of any money in the treasury not otlierwise appropriated, a sufficient 
sum to carry out the provisions of this bill. 

Sec. 5. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage and publication. 

Approved April 14, 1897. 

The commission appointed by the governor sought the cooperation of the Division of Forestry 
of the Department of Agriculture, whose experts, in cooperation with the State geological survey, 
made a comprehensive forest survey of the forested counties of the State, upon the basis of which 
the commission is framing its propositions. 

The State also has an effective forest-fire law, which is in charge of a special commissioner, as 
will be shown later. 

In Minnesota, as a consequence of the terrible warning by the fires of 1894, on April IS, 1895, 
tbe legislature passed "an act to provide for the preservation of forests and for the prevention 
and suppression of forest fires," under which the State auditor was made ex officio forest com- 
missioner, with a chief fire warden as executive officer in charge of the organized service to 
combat forest fires. Beyond these duties the latter officer is only required to add to his report 
"suggestions relative to the preservation of the forests of the State and to the prevention and 
extinguishment of forest and prairie fire." Three annual reiiorts have so far appeared and show 
the wisdom of the legislation. 

An effort was made during the legislative session of 1897 to secure the enactment of the 
following bill, which passed the house but failed to reach a vote in the senate. The bill is included 
here, notwithstanding its failure to become a law, because it embraces a novel and interesting 
method of securing to the State the benefits of a forest reservation. 

AN ACX to encourage the growing and preservation of forests, and to cre.ate forest boards and forest reserve areas. 

(Sections 1 to 8 provide for tlie acquirement of forest reserve areas, the appointment of a forestry board of 
nine members, who shall serve without pay other than the reimbursement of actual expenses incurred, and who 
shall have a secretary, and elect a president and vice-president. The State treasurer is made treasurer of the board, 
and county commissioners and town supervisors are made county and town forestry boards. The duties of the 
boards are defined, and the remainder of the bill, embracing its unique features, is as follows:) 

Sec 9. Any person or corporation beinsjthe owner in fee simple of any cutover or denuded, or partially cutover 
or partially denuded, natural forest lands, which will not probably be utilized for many years for agricultural 
purposes, or any bare or waste, or partially bare or waste, rough prairie- lands, or any very sandy, very rough, or 



182 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

very rocky lands in this State, or any lands deemed absolutely necessary for the preservation of -water courses (all 
to 1)6 determined Ly said State forestry board) may deed the same to the State of Minaesota for forestry purposes; 
all lands so deeded to the State for forestry purposes by any person or corporation are hereby forever dedicated for 
forestry purposes. 

Before such deed shall be made and delivered a proposition in -writing shall be made by such owner or o-wners 
to said State forestry board to so deed the same for forestry purposes, under the terms of this act and amendments 
tliereof, made prior to such offer, and the question of the acceptance thereof shall be referred to the to-wn or county 
forestry board -n'here the land is situated (or both such town and county forestry boards) for its advice on the 
question of accepting the same; and said State forestry board, or its executive committee, may hear the person 
offering so to deed, or his or her representative, and also may hear such town or county forestry board or its repre- 
sentative, both sides in person, or by written reasons submitted, why such deed should or should not be received, 
and the decision of the State foresti-y board to receive or reject such offer and deed shall be final. Such deed may 
be made by quitclaim, where by the advice of the attorney-general, or by the advice of its attorney, if said board 
have one, said lands are clear of liens except for taxes and tax sales still owned by the State. 

The board may appoint an executive committee annually, on which it may confer authority to perform any 
executive act, and to exeioise its judgment in minor details which can not conveniently be acted upon by the board. 

Sec. 10. At least once in every five (5) years, and as much oftener as the State forestry board may decide, the 
accumulated income from each tract of land so deeded by persons or corporations for State forestry purposes shall 
be divided by the State forestry board and disposed of as follows, to wit: 

1st. One-third (i) shall belong to the State, to reimburse the State for the care and protection of the forests 
thereon, and for tlie nonpayment of taxes thereon to the State, county, and town, which third (J) shall be divided 
between the State, county, and town where the land is situated as follows, to wit: One-half (i) to the State, one- 
fourth (J) to the county, and oue-iburth (J) to the town. 

2d. Two-thirds (|) shall be paid to such public educational institution or system in the State as the grantor may 
designate in the deed of conveyance, or in a separate instrument executed as deeds of land are required to be 
executed and recorded in the office of the register of deeds of the county where tlie land is situated, or by will. But 
in case the grantor fail to so designate sucli institution or system, or if for any reason such institution or system 
fails to exist, then the same shall paid to the iiroper officer or ofiScers or boards for the benefit of the public school 
system of the State and the University of Minnesota, the public school system to have three-fourths (|) thereof, and 
the said university to ha^'e one-fourth d) thereof. 

Sec. 11. The State, by and through said State forestry board, shall have full power and authority to lease for 
revenue, or for protection from fire, trespassers, or otherwise, low meadow tracts, or other tracts for pasture, when 
the same will not interfere with the growth of forest trees, and to sell dead and down timber and mature timber, 
and to deed said tracts or parcels or parts of the same, where the growth of towns, the building of railroads, water 
powei'S, or other public improvements may demand alienation by the State, and said State forestry board may cause 
to be cnt and sold, or sold with the right to cut and haul away, forests or trees when said board may determine that 
the State's and the beneficiaries' interests will be subserved by so doing, but all proceeds of such sales or leases shall 
be divided as is the income therefrom as above provided. 

Sec. 12. This act shall talie effect and be in force from and after its passage. 

In Nortli Dakota the office of commissioner of irrigation and forestry was created in 1890, 
seemingly mainly for educational purposes. In Kansas for some time the educational campaign 
for timber jilanting of the State horticultural society was suiipleiuented by the State in the estab- 
lishment of two experimental tree stations, under a superintendent, from which plant material is 
distributed to intending planters. 

The State of Colorado was the first to recognize in her constitution the exi-stence of a duty on 
the part of the government with regard to lier forestry interests. 

Article XVIII of the constitution, adopted in convention March 14, 1876, contains the follow- 
ing clauses : 

Sec. 6. The general assembly shall enact laws in order to prevent the destruction of and to keep in good pres- 
ervation the forests upon the lands of the State or upon lands of the public domain, the control of which shall be 
conferred by Congress upon the State. 

Sec. 7. The general assembly may provide that the increase in the value of private lands caused by the plant- 
ing of hedges, orchards, and forests thereon shall not, for a limited time, to be fixed by law, be taken into account 
in assessing such lands for taxation. 

The constitutional convention also presented a memorial to Congress asking for the transfer 
of the public-timber lands in the then Territory to the care and custody of the State, which 
remained, however, without attention. 

The intentions of the constitution to take care of the forestry interests of the State were, 
however, not carried into effect until 1885, when a law was passed creating the office of a forest 
commissioner and constituting the county commissioners and road overseers throughout the 
State, forest officers in their resiiective localities, to act as a police force in preventing depredation 



FOREST-FIRE LEGISLATION. 



183 



and fire, and to encourage and promote forest culture. But the provisions to carry out this 
laudable work were from the start insufficient, and the ofSce of forest commissioner finally 
remaining without a salary became vacant, the law ineffective. A new departure, however, was 
made in 1897. In that year a department of forestry, game, and fish was created. The salaried 
officers provided are a commissioner and three wardens, and the commissioner may appoint deputy 
wardens without pay. Section 9 of the law provides that- 
Said commissioner sliall, as mucli as possible, promote the growth and extension of tlio forest areas of tlie 
State, and enconrage the planting of trees and the preservation of the sources of water snpply, bnt nothmgin this 
act contained shall authorise the commissioner to interfere with tlie use of timber for domestic mining or 
agricultural purposes, in accordance with existing laws. He shall have the care of all woodlands and forests winch 
may at any time be controlled by the State, and shall cause all such lands to be located and recorded m a book to 
be kept for the purpose. 

Section 10 prohibits the appointment to any office created by this act of any person directly 
or indirectly engaged in the manufacture of lumber, railroad ties, telegraph poles or any business 
reauiring a large use of wood. The law makes it a misdemeanor to cause fires to be set without a 
guard, or to cut coniferous timber from public or State lands for shipment outside the State. 
The remainder of the law provides for the protection of fish and game. 

California began its course for the establishment of a forest policy in the most promising manner 
in 1885, March 3, by creating a State board of forestry. At first it was mainly a commission of 
inquiry with educational functions; police powers were conferred upon it in 1887 "for the purpose 
of making arrests for any violation of any law applying to forest and brush lands within the State, 
or prohibiting the destruction thereof," with an appropriation of $30,000 for the two years following, 
but by 1891 political complications and perversion of the moneys appropriated undid the good 
work of the first board, and the office, as well as the functions, were abolished. Besides three 
valuable reports on the forest conditions and forest trees of the State, the board left as an inheritance 
two experiment stations, where exotic trees are being tested, now under charge of the University 
of California. 

FOBEST-PIRE LEGISLATION. 

Besides this legislation regarding forest commissions, by which the interest and duty of the 
State is recognized with regard to forest conditions, laws recognizing the duty and necessity of 
protecting forest property more efficiently against fire have been enacted in several States since 
1885 when in New York in connection with the establishment of the forest commission, the first 
comprehensive forest-fire law, drafted by the writer, was enacted. Laws against willful and 
malicious firing existed then on the statute books of nearly every State, but they were ineiiectiye 
for lack of responsibility for their execution. The New York law for the first time recognized the 
need of officers responsible for the execution of the law and of the organization of an army of 
firewardens throughout the State. 

The States of Maine, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Minnesota followed, 
with some modifications, this example of New York. 

The principles most needful to keep in view when formulating legislation for protection 
against forest fires are — . 

(1) No leoislation is effective unless well-organized machinery for its enforcement is provided. 
The damage done by forest fires being in many cases far-reaching beyond the immediate private 
personal loss, the State must be prominently represented in such organization. 

(2^ Eesponsibility for the execution of the law must be clearly defined and ultimately rest 
upon one person, and every facility for ready prosecution of offenders must be at the command of 
the responsible officer. 

(3) None but paid officials can be expected to do efficient service, and financial responsibility 
in all directions must be recognized as alone productive of care in the performance of duties as 
well as in the obedience to regulations. In the case of corporations the officer most directly 
responsible for any damage must be amenable to law in addition to the corporation itself. 

(4) Kecognition of common interest in the protection of property can also be established only 
by the creation of financial liability on the part of the community and all its members. 



184 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS V. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

The following is the draft of an ideal comprehensive bill which embodies the principal features 
of the desired legislation and has served as a basis for the existing laws: 

AN ACT for the protection of forest property. 
FOREST COMMISSIONER. 

Section 1 creates a, forest commissioner, wliose office may be either an enlargement of some existing office or, 
much better, a separate one, with adequate compensation in either case, to be appointed by and reporting directly 
to the governor. 

Section 2 prescribes the duties of the forest commissioner, namely, to organize, supervise, and be responsible, 
under tbe provisions of this act, for the protection of forest property in the State against fire. In addition he is to 
collect statistics and other information regarding tbe forest areas in the State, and the commerce of wood and allied 
interests, especially such information as will explain the distribution, condition, value, and ownership of the 
woodland; this information and the results of the operation of this act, together with suggestions for further 
legislative action, to be embodied iu annual reports. 

Section 3 provides for the giving of a bond by the forest commissioner for the faithful performance of his duties, 
and fixes fines for such neglect in performing the duties of the office as may be proven, and explains the manner of 
imposing and collecting such fines. 

ORGANIZATION OF FIRE SERVICE. 

Section 4 constitutes the selectmen of towns, or the sheriffs, deputies, constables, supervisors, or similar officers 
as firewardens. If preferred, special fire commissioners may be appointed liy the forest commissioner, with the 
advice of county commissioners, or both methods of providing firewardens may be employed together. The towns 
are to be divided iuto fire districts, the number and boundaries to be governed by the exigencies in each case, and each 
district to be under the charge and oversight of one district firewarden. One of these should be designated as town 
firewarden, to take command in case of large conflagrations. The town firewarden and at least 50 per cent of the 
district firewardens should be property owners in the county, unless a sufficient number of such can not be found or 
residents refuse to serve. A description of each district and the name of its firewarden are to be recorded with the 
forest commissioner and the town clerk or similar officer. 

Section 5 provides for employment of special fire patrols in unorganized places in any county and during the 
dangerous season, especially in lumbering districts, and for co-operation of forest owners. Wherever unorganized 
places exist in a county or so far distant from settlements as to make discovery of fires and speedy arrival of regular 
firewardens impossible, or wherever forest owners whose property is specially endangered require, the forest com- 
missioner may -annually appoint special fire patrols, to be paid at daily rates, the owner paying one-half the expense 
and the State the other half; such patrols to be under the regulations of this law and to report to the nearest fire- 
wardens. The manner of appointment and the matter of compensation and duties are to be formulated by the forest 
commissioner. 

Section 6 defines the power anddnties of firewardens : To take measures necessary for the control and extinction 
of fires; to post notices of regulations provided in this law and furnished by the forest commissioner; to ascertain 
the cause of fires and prepare evidence in case of suits; to report each fire at once to the forest commissioner on 
blanks furnished, giving area burned over, damage, owner, probable origin, measures adopted, and cost of extinguish- 
ing; to have authority to call upon any persons iu their district for assistance, such persons to receive compensation 
as determined by the selectmen or county commissioners at the rate of not to exceed 15 cents per hour and to be 
paid by the town or county upon certification by the forest commissioner. 

Persons refusing, when not excused, to assist or to comply with orders, shall forfeit the sum of $10, the same to 
be recovered in an action for debt in the name and to the use of the town or county, or for the fire-protection fund. 

Firewardens shall be paid $10 a year as a retainer besides day's wages at the same rates as sheriffs or similar 
officers for as many days as they are actually on duty, and shall be responsible for prompt extinction of (ires and be 
amenable to law for neglect of duty. The district firewarden shall call on the town firewarden in case of inability 
to control fires, and the town firewarden shall have sheriff's power to enlist assistance, as is provided in case of a 
mob. 

FIRB-INDEMNITY FUND. 

Section 7 provides for the creation of a fire-indemnity fund, each county to pay iuto the State treasury $1 for 
each acre burnt over each year, the special fund so constituted to be applied in the maintenance of the system 
provided by this act and for the payment of damages to those whose forest property has been burned without 
neglect on their part or on that of their agents. ^ 

The burned areas shall be ascertained by the county surveyor and shall be checked from the reports of fire- 
wardens by the forest commissioner. All fines collected under the provisions of this law shall also accrue to the 
fire fund. 

.lURISDICTION AND LEGAL REMEDIES. 

Section 8 establishes jurisdiction and legal proceedings in each case of prosecution of incendiaries and 
adjustment of damages, and impo.ses upon every district judge the duty in charging the grand juries of his district 
to call special attention to the penal provisions of this act and of any similar acts providing for oftenses against 
forest property. 



FOREST-FIRE LEGISLATION. 185 

Section 9 charges the forest conimisjiioner to issue aud publish, by posters and otherwise, reasonable regulations 
regarding the use of fires; such regulations to contain special consideration of campers, hunters, lumbermen, settlers, 
colliers, turpentine men, railroads, etc., and to be approved by the governor. 

Section 10 makes it a misdemeanor to disobey the posted regulations of the forest commissioner, or to destroy 
posters, or to originate fires by neglect of the same; provides that the prosecution shall be prepared by the 
forest commissioner, and imposes iiues and imprisonment in addition to damages. Fines should be double the actual 
damages, one-half to go to the fire fund, one-half to the damaged person. 

Section 11 makes it a criminal act, subject to indictment, to willfully set fires, and imposes fine and 
imprisonment. 

Section 12 jirovides that any person whoso forest property is damaged by fire not originated by his own 
neglect, and who is able to prove neglect on the part of the firewarden, may call on the forest commissioner for 
award of damage, whereupon the forest commissioner, in conjunction with the county authorities, shall investigate 
the case and refer his findings to the judicial officer of the district, who shall charge the grand jury to indict any 
ofl^ender against this act and ailjudge any neglectful firewarden or other officer or any person refusing to act upon 
orders of the firewarden. 

Any neglect on the part of the forest commissioner to investigate and find in each case within one year from 
the appeal of the owner shall be followed by dismissal unless reasonable cause for failure be shown. 

LIABILITY OF RAILROADS. 

Section 13 charges railroad companies to keep their right of way free from inflammable material by burning, 
under proper care, before certain dates to be established by the forest commissioner. Failure to do bo upon 
notification by the commissioner shall be followed by the arrest of the superintendent of the section, who shall be 
liable prima facie to procedure under section 10. 

Section 11 provides for the use of spark arresters, failure to comply with tliis provision to be followed by arrest 
of the superintendent or other officer in charge of the motive power and by procedure under section 10. 

Section 1.5 provides that fires originating from the tracks of a railroad company shall be prima facie evidence 
of neglect on the part of the company, and the engineer and firemen shall be liable to arrest and procedure under 
section 10. 

Section 16 provides that in all cases where a fire originates through neglect of a railroad company or its agents, 
both the company and its ofScers shall be liable for damages under the provisions of section 12. 

Section 17 establishes special liabilities for damage by tires in case of railroads under construction. 

FIRE INSURANCE AND STOCK LAWS. 

Section 18 provides for the incorporation of forest fire insurance companies. In States where cattle are allowed 
to roam, provisions to stop this practice should be enacted. 

FURTHER DUTIES OF FOREST COMMISSIONERS. 

Section 19 defines minor duties of forest commissioners, namely, to co-operate with superintendents of schools 
and other educational institutions in awakening an interest in behalf of forestry and rational forest use. 

Section 20 provides for salary and other expenses of the office of forest commissioner, which should be liberal 
in proportion to the responsibility of the office. 

Section 21 repeals all acts and parts of acts inconsistent with provisions of this act. 

How near to this ideal we come in practice may appear from the legislation enacted for 
Minnesota in 1895, which is still only partially effective on account of deficient appropriations and 
limited functions of the commissioner or chief firewarden. 

AN ACT to provide for the preservation of forests of this State anil for the prevention and suppression of forest aud prairie fires. 

Be it enacted Tiy the legislature of the State of Minnesota : 

Section 1. The State auditor shall be fore.st commissioner of this State, and his orders shall be supreme in all 
matters relating to the preservation of the forests of this State and to the prevention and suppression of forest and 
prairie fires as hereinafter provided. The supervisors of towns, mayors of cities, and presidents of village councils 
are hereby constituted firewardens of their respective towns, cities, and villages in the State, and the chief fire- 
warden may appoint as firewardens such other persons as he may deem necessary, living in or near to unorganized 
territory in this State, whose districts, to be known as fire districts, he may determine. 

Sec. 2. The aforesaid forest commissioner shall appoint a competent deputy to be known as chief firewarden, 
who, from personal experience, is familiar with the cimditions of the forest and methods by which fires may be 
controlled. Said chief firewarden shall receive a salary of twelve hundred ($1,200) dollars per year, and shall hold 
his office during the pleasure of the forest commissioner. He shall represent the authority of the forest commis- 
sioner, and it shall be his duty to enforce the provisions of this act throughout the State. 

Sec. 3. The chief firewarden shall have general charge of tlie firewarden force of the State, and shall have 
authority to mass such firewarden force as may be available at any special point to suppress fires. In case the tire- 
warden force of any locality is deemed by said chief firewarden inadequate to prevent or suppress forest or prairie 



186 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 

fires, he may appoint, temporarily, needed firewardens, whose duties and authority shall be the same as herein 
given to town supervisors actiug as firewardens. He shall properly divide into fire districts all unorganized 
territory in this State and appoint competent firewardens therein; he shall co-operate with any police or military 
force of the United States Government which may be detailed to guard the national domain from fire; he shall 
investi.o'ate the extent of the forests in the State, together with the amounts and varieties of the wood and timber 
growing therein, the damages done to them from time to time by forest fires and the causes of such fires, the method 
used, if any, to promote the regrowth of timber, and any other important facts relating to forest interests which 
may be required by the forest commissioner. The information so gathered, with his siiggestions relative thereto, 
shall be included in a report to be made by him annually to the forest commissioner. 

Sec. 4. The forest commissioner shall provide and officially sign an abstract of the penal laws of this act, with 
such rules and regulations in accord therewith as he may deem necessary, and on or before the first day of April of 
each year he shall forward as many copies as he considers needful to the chairman of each town board of supervisors 
and presidents of villages, to the forest firewardens that he has apiiointed, and to all railroad companies and to the 
chairman of each board of county commissioners in this State, and it shall he the duty of said firewardens to post 
up such abstract as warning placards in conspicuous places in their respective districts, and it shall be the duty of 
the county commissioners of each county to cause the said abstract to he published in at least three issues of the 
official papers in their respective counties during the fire-dangerous season of each year, which shall be reckoned 
from the 15th of April to the 1st of November. 

Sec. 5. During a dry and dangerous season, when forest and prairie fires are prevailing or are liable to break 
out, the chief firewarden shall use such means under his command as he may deem necessary to prevent or suppress 
such fires, and his expenses shall be paid by the State, which expenditures in one year shall not exceed five thousand 
dollars, to be paid for out of the general revenue fund, upon the order of the forest commissioner. 

Sec. 6. It shall lie the duty of each fire warden to take, precautions to prevent the setting of forest or prairie 
fires, and when his district is suffering or threatened with fire, to go to the place of danger to control such fires, and 
each forest firewarden shall have authority to call to his assistance in emergencies any able-bodied male person 
over eighteen years of age, and if such person refuses, without reasonable justification or excuse, to assist, or if any 
firewarden refuses or neglects to perform the duties assigned him in this act, such officer or person shall be deemed 
guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall upon conviction thereof be punished by a fine of not more than one hundred 
($100) dollars, or imprisonment in the county jail not to exceed three (3) months. 

Sec. 7. The chief firewarden and the several firewardens created by this act shall have authority to enforce 
the provisions of this act, and it shall be their duty to co-operate with the firewarden of any adjoining district, and 
in the absence of such firewardens to direct the work of control and extinguishment of forest or prairie fires in such 
district, and to arrest, without warrant, every person violating any provisions of this act, and to forthwith take 
the offender before a magistrate and make complaint against such person. The chairmen of boards of township 
supervisors, presidents of villages, and firewardens appointed by the chief firewarden shall inquire into the cause 
of each forest or prairie fire within their districts and shall rejjort the same to the chief firewarden and the methods 
used to control or extinguish such fires and the amount of property destroyed and the number of lives lost, if any, 
and report such other facts in regard to said fires as said chief firewarden may require. During the more dangerous 
season of the year the chief firewarden may require frequent reports from the chairmen of township boards, or in 
unorganized towns from firewardens appointed by the said chief firewarden, as to condition of forest and prairie 
fires and as to what is being done to control the same. 

Sec. 8. Each firewarden shall receive for his actual services rendered nnder this act two ($2) dollars per day, 
two-thirds of which shall be paid by the county where such service is performed and one-third by the State; and 
any employee engaged in like service shall receive at the rate of one and fifty one-huudredths ($1.50) dollars per 
day, and said expense shall also be paid, two-thirds by the county wliere such service is rendered and one-third by 
the State, as hereinafter provided; but no payment shall be made to any claimant under this act until he shall have 
presented an itemized account and made oath or affirmation that said account is just and correct, which account 
shall be approved by the board of township supervisors and shall be audited by the county commissioners, when 
satisfied of the justice of the claim, and left on file with the county auditor; in case of unorganized townships the 
board of county commissioners alone shall approve and audit such accounts. The county auditor shall thereupon 
issue to each claimant his warrant upon the county treasurer for the entire sum to which such claimant is entitled, 
and the treasurer shall pay the same. Such county auditor shall transmit the original oath and copy of the warrant 
to the State auditor, who shall audit such claim, and one-third thereof shall be paid out of the State treasury from 
the general revenue fund by warrant issued by the State auditor upon the State treasury in favor of the county 
thereof paying the same, and forward the same to the auditor of said county: Provided, That no firewarden shall be 
paid in any one year for more than ten (10) days' service in extinguishing and preventing forest or prairie fires, 
nor for more than five (5) days' service in each year in posting notices and making the reports required by this act, 
nor in the aggregate for more than fifteen (15) days' service, of whatever character, in any one year; nor shall any 
one person employed by firewardens to assist in extinguishing or preventing forest or prairie fires be paid for more 
than five (5) days of such service in any one year. No county shall expend more than five hundred ($500) dollars of 
public money in any one year under this act. 

Sec. 9. Any person who willfully, negligently, or carelessly sets on fire, or causes to be set on fire, any woods, 
prairies, or other combustible material, whether or not on his own lands, by means whereof the property of another 
is injured or endangered, or any person who willfully, negligently, or carelessly suffers any fire set by himself to 
damage the property of another, is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine not exceeding one hun- 
dred ($100) dollars, or by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding three months. Any person who maliciously 



FOREST-FIRE LEGISLATION. 



187 



sets on fire, or causes to be set on fire, any woods, prairies, or otlier combustible material whereby the property of 
another is destroyed and life is sacrificed shall be punished with a fine of not over five hundred ($500) dollars, or be 
imprisoned in the State prison for a term of not over ten (10) years, or both such fine and imprisonment. 

Sec 10. Any person who shall kindle a fire on or dangerously near to forest or prairie land and leave it 
unquenched, or sbaU he a party thereto, and every person who shall use other than incombustible wads tor firearms, 
or who shall carry a naked torch, firebrand or other exposed light in or dangerously near to forest land, causing 
risk of accidental fire, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding one hundred ($100) dollars, or imprisonment m the 
county jail not exceeding three (3) months. 

Sec 11 Every person who shall willfully or heedlessly deface, destroy, or remove any warning placard posted 
under the requirements of this act shall be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred ($100) dollars for each such 
offense, or imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding three (3) months. 

^ Sec 12. It shall be the dutv of all railroad companies operating any railroad within this State to use eflicient 
spark arresters on all their engines and to keep their right of way to the width of fifty (50) feet on each side of the 
center of the main track cleared of all combustible materials and safely dispose of the same withm said limits of 
their right of way between the 15th day of April and the 1st day of December. No railroad company shall permit 
its employees to leave a deposit of fire or live coals, or hot ashes, in the immediate vicinity of woodland, or lands 
liable to be overrun by fires, and where engineers, conductors, or train men discover that fences or other materials 
along the right of way or woodland adjacent to the railroad are burning, or in danger from fire, they shall report the 
same promptly at the next tele-raph station that they may pass. In seasons of drought railroad companies sha 
give particular instructions to their employees for the prevention and prompt extinguishment of fires, and they shall 
cause warnino- placards furnished by the forest commissioner to be posted at their stations in the vicinity of forest 
and prairie grass lands, and where a fire occurs along the line of their road they shall concentrate such help and 
adopt such measures as shall be available to effectively extinguish it. Any railroad company willfully violating 
the requirements of this act shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and be punished by a fine not exceeding one 
hundred ($100) dollars for each such offense, and railroad employees willfully violating the requirements of this 
section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and bo punished by a fine of not less than five ($5) dollars nor more than 
fifty ($50) dollars. But this section shall not be construed to prohibit or prevent any railroad company from piling 
or keeping upon the right of way cross-ties or other material necessary in the operation or maintenance of such 

'''" ""sec 13 It shall be the duty of each and every owner of thrashing or other portable steam engines to have 
efficient spark arresters on their engines at all times when in use, and no person in charge of any thrashing engine 
shall deposit live coals or hot ashes from his engine in any place without putting them out or covering them with at 
least three inehes of earth before leaving them. All persons violating the provisions of this section shall be deemed 
guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine not less than five ($5) dollars nor 
more than fifty ($50) dollars. 

Sec 14. Nothing in this act shall be construed as affecting any right of action for damages. 

Sec. 15. Woodland territory within the terms of this act shall be construed to mean bodies of forest and brush 

""" 'sec 16. All moneys received as penalties for violating the provisions of this act shall be paid into the county 
treasnrv of the county wherein the offense occurred, to be known as the county fire fund, and used under the direction 
of the county board in defraying the expenses of enforcing the provisions of this act withm such county. 

Sec M. The forest commi,ssioner shall annually, on or before the first day of December, make a written report 
to the governor of his doings in respect to the duties herein assigned him, together with an itemized account of the 
expenses incurred in carrying out the provisions of this act, which report shall include such statistics and facts as 
he has obtained from the chief fire warden and from the several fire wardens of the State and from other sources 
together with his suggestions relative to the preservation of the forests of the State and to the prevention and 
extinguishment of forest and prairie fires. 

Sec. 18. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent with this act are hereby repealed. 
Sec. 19. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage. 
Approved April 18, 1895. 

The Wiscoiisiu law (chapter 266, Laws of 1895) is similar in general character to the Minnesota 
law except that the chief clerk of the State land office and his deputy are made State forest 
warden and deputy forest warden, respectively, without additional salary. Towns are limited to 
$100 per year expenditure in extinguishing fires. 

The Maiue law (chapter 100, Public Laws of 1891) makes the State lana agent the forest 
commissioner. The selectmen of towns are made fire wardens and their duties are to post copies 
of the law in conspicuous places and to superintend the work of extinguishing fires, ^l^ey are 
empowered to call upon any person for assistance, and a refusal makes the party liable to $10 fane. 
The county commissioners in counties where there are unorganized places may appoint not to 
exceed ten fire wardens. No town shall expend for extinguishing fires more than 2 per cent ol its 
valuation for purposes of taxation. Anyone who neglects to extinguish a camp fire is liable to a 
fine not exceeding $100 or imprisonment in the county jail one month, or both. Non-combustiblc 
wads must be used by hunters. Municipal officers (and county commissioners in unorganized 



188 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

places) shall make strict inquiry into tlie causes of fires within wooded lands, and prosecute the 
offender without delay. Town selectmen shall, where a forest fire of more than one acre has 
occurred, report to the forest commissioner the extent of fire and the amount of loss, and the 
measures found eflicient in subduing fire, for whicli purpose blanks shall be furnished by the forest 
commissioner. 

Eailroad companies are required to have their employees burn or cut and remove all grass, 
etc., from their right-of-way once a year; to use spark arresters on their locomotives; to refrain 
from depositing live coals, flre, or ashes on their track; and to report fires along right-of-way at 
the next stopping place that is a telegraph station. Eailroad companies are held liable ibr all 
damage to forest growth by any x)erson in their employ during road construction. During con- 
struction of such roads through woodland, abstracts of the laws relating to forest fires sliall be 
posted along the roadway at distances of 200 feet. Anyone so employed who fails to extinguish 
a fire made by him is liable to a fine not exceeding $500 or imprisonment not exceeding sixty days, 
or both, and it is made the duty of all i^ersons having charge of men in such railroad construction 
to see that the provisions of this act are complied with, any negligence subjecting them to the 
punishment above named. Violations of this act by railroads are punishable by a flue of $100 for 
each oflense. The forest commissioner shall encourage an interest in forestry in the public schools, 
and shall prepare circulars of information giving advice for the care of woodlands. He shall have 
copies of this chapter and all other laws of the State relating to forest fires printed and freely 
distributed to the selectmen of all the towns of the State, who shall post them up in schoolhouses, 
sawmills, logging camps, and other places, and to forest owners, who may post them at their own 
expense. Anyone defacing or destroying such notices is liable to a fine of $5. 

Eeports of the commissioners all bear testimony to the beneficent effect of the legislation, 
especially in educating people to consider the value of forest property, although the execution of 
the laws is still difficult and unsatisfactory. 

That it is not necessary to have forest fires, or that they can be at least reduced to insignificant 
dimensions, may be learned from the experiences of other nations, who exercise the first function 
of the State, namely, the more thorough protection of life and property of its citizens. 

In a recent report we read that in 1896 "very considerable damage by fire" occurred in the 
Prussian State forests (some 6,000,000 acres), and then the reporter brings a table showing that 
altogether less than 2,500 acres were burnt over. One "extensive" fire is reported as destroying 
1,000 acres of "hopeful" pine and spruce plantation 20 to 25 years old, the result of incendiarism. 

In the following year (1897) the entire loss was not over 100 acres. During the ten years 
1882 to 1891 there were 156 cases of fire reported: 96 from negligence, 53 from malice, 3 from, 
lightning, and only 4 from locomotives; and seven years out of the ten are without any record of 
fire due to this last cause. And this on an area of 6,000,000 acres, of which more than half is on 
dry sandy soil stocked with pure pine forest, where the pine litter is never burned or removed, 
and with large bodies of sapling timber and young growth interspersed. 

Comment is unnecessary as to the possibility of protecting forest property from fire. 

The Indian forest administration, under circumstances not less difficult, nay, perhaps, more 
difficult than those prevailing in the United States, still more strongly refutes the assertion that 
forest fires may not be suppressed. 

Not only have the people of all timbered i^arts of India practiced the firing of woods for 
many centuries, both for purposes of agriculture and pasture, but the natural conditions in most 
of the Indian forests are such as to discourage the most sanguine. 

In most parts the forest is a mixed growth, of which a considerable portion is valueless and is 
left to die and litter the ground with dry and decaying timber, furnishing ready fuel. To this is 
added a mass of creeping and climbing vegetation, a dense undergrowth, largely composed of 
giant grasses aud bamboos, covering the ground with standing or fallen canes, green and dry. It 
is a dangerous forest; and yet the forest department fights and prevents fires, and succeeds. 

The number of fires has been diminished to an astonishing degree, the efficiency has grown 
with perfection of methods, and the expenses have been constantly reduced, and have never been 
over $10 per square mile in any year. And this in a country where heat aiul moisture stimulate 
a rank growth, where a clearing will be covered in one year with grass in which an elephant can 
hide, and where hot, dry winds make a most dangerous forest-fire combination every year. 



FORESTRY EDUCATION. 



189 



There is no insuperable difficulty in stopping the fire nuisance in this country, provided the 
moral obligation is recognized, the will is there, and the necessary organization is provided. 

FORESTRY EDUCATION. 

The New York legislature of 1898 made provision for the establishment of a college of 
forestry in Cornell University, and provided for the purchase of a school forest of 30,000 acres to 
be used as an experimental demonstration area for illustrating the principles and practice of 
scientific forest management. The school was organized in April, 1898, with l)r. B. E. Fernow as 
director and dean. 

Its first session opened in September, with the beginning of the collegiate year 1899. This is 
the first professional school of forestry established in America which offers in its courses the same 
full complement of studies to be found in European institutions of similar kind. 

As indicating the scope of the subject and the requiremeiits for a fnlly educated forester of 
highest degree, the following schedule of studies announced by the college is reproduced. 

This step firmly establishes the forest policy of the State of New York, eventually to place its 
large forest property under the management of technically educated foresters issuing from this 
State college. 

Schedule of the courses leading to the degree of Bachelor of the Science of Forestry {B. S.F.). 
[Courses in parentlieses are elective in wliole or in part.] 



FRESHMAN YEAK. 

Mathematics 

Do 

Physics 

Do 

Olioraistry 

Invertebrate zoology.. 

Vertebrate zoology 

Entomology 

Botany 

Do 

Geology 

Do 

Forestry 

SOPHOMORE YEAR 

Chemistry 

Entomology 

Botany 

Do 

Geology 

Do 

Do 

Engineering 

Do 

Political economy 

Forestry 



Designa- 
tion of 
courses. 



JDNIOR YEAR. 



Chemistry 

Botany 

Geology.... 



Do . 



Engineering 

Political economy 

Pisciculture and venery- 
Eorestry -'. . 



SENIOR YEAR. 

Political economy . . . 

Law '. 

Forestry 



Designa- 
tion of 
courses. 



The resources of the entire university, with its library, laboratories, museums, and collections, 
are practically at the disposal of the college by the action of the board of trustees, and hence, 
besides the required courses, any additional courses offered by the various departments which are 
thought to be of especial value to forestry students may be elected by them whenever they have 
satisfied the requirements. 

The courses in fundamental and supplementary branches, which are needful and required for 
the three or four year forestry courses and for graduation, are selected from those offered in the 
departments of the university. 

The courses in forestry are briefly described as follows: 

1. Synoptical course iu forestry. Economic nature and political asjiects. Designed especially for students of 
political economy, agriculture, engineering, and freshmen in the college of forestry, to acquaint the student in .a 
brief manner with the several subjects comprising the field of forestry'. Lectures only. Two hours, fall or spring. 

2. One-year coarse iu forestry, with special reference to silviculture. Designed especially for agriculturists 
and others who desire a brief study of the technicalities of woodcraft and silviculture. Lectures and demonstrations. 
Three hours, through the year. 

3. Silviculture. Principles of arboriculture, application of dendrology to crop production, methods of 



190 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

reproduction, improvement of the crop, nursery practice, and forest planting. Lectures, recitations, and iield 
demonstrations. Three hours, througli the year. 

4. Forest protection. Methods of guarding against trespass, loss from lires, insects, and diseases; measures to 
prevent erosion, washing, and deterioration of soils. Lectures and recitations. Three hours, spring term. 

5. Timber physics and wood technology. Technical properties of wood and its uses. The course is arranged 
to meet also the needs of students in civil engineering and architecture, and others interested in the properties and 
uses of wood. Lectures, recitations, and laboratory work. Three hours, fall and winter. 

6. Exploitation. Methods and means employed in the harvest of forest products, logging, transportation, mill- 
in"', and preparation of wood for market. Lectures and recitations. Three hours, winter term. Excursions to 
actual operations and points of manufacture. 

7. Forest mensuration. Methods of ascertaining volume of felled and standing trees, of whole forest growths, 
timber estimating, determining accretion of trees and stands. Lectures, recitations, and field work. Three hours, 
winter and spring. 

8. Forest regulation. Principles and methods underlying the jireparation of plans of management for contin- 
uous wood and revenue production. Lectures and recitations. Four hours, fall term. Field work in summer. 

9. Forest administration. Organizing a forestry service, manner of employing and supervising labor, business 
methods as applied to forest management. Lectures and recitations. Two hours, spring term. 

10. Forest valuation. Principles and methods of ascertaining the money value of forest growths at different 
ages for purposes of sales, exchanges, damage suits, etc. 'Lectures. Two hours, spring term. 

11. Forestry statics and finance. Application of the principles of finance to forest management; methods of 
finding the most profitable form of management, determining rotation and expenditures with reference to revenue. 
Lectures and recitations. Three hours, winter term. 

12. Forestry history and politics. Historical development of the economic and technical features of modern 
forestry; forestry conditions at home and abroad; forests and forestry as factors in the household of the community 
and nation ; basis and principles underlying forest policies of the State. The course will prove of value and interest 
to students of political economy. Lectures only. Two hours, winter and spring. 

The ouly other iustitutions in the country which have given any attention to instruction in 
forestry heretofore have been the laud-grant colleges of the several States. Of these, twenty-two 
have offered courses varying in length from a brief series of lectures to two full terms' work. 
These are the agricultural colleges of Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Iowa, Idaho, Kansas, 
Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Dakota, 
Ohio, Pennsylvania, Ehode Island, South Dakota, Texas, Vermont, Washington, and West 
Virginia. Nine colleges touch upou forestry incidentally in connection with instruction in 
other branches, such as botany and horticulture, namely, those of Virginia, North Carolina, 
Georgia, Mississippi, Colorado, Oklahoma, Indiana, and Maine. Ten institutions report no 
reference to the subject whatever. As to the character of the instruction in the courses in 
forestry, it varies greatly in the several iustitutions. The usual purpose is to give the students a 
general idea of the influence of forests upon climate and water flow and of forest geography, with 
more sijeciflc training in identification of trees and in propagation and jjlanting. 

It is evident that considered as a part of a general course in agriculture it is not feasible or 
desirable to make forestry the major subject, as is necessary in a technical school; but the brief 
courses offered in the agricultural colleges have been very successful in promoting public interest 
in forest protection and silviculture. 

In 1895 there were introduced into Congress two bills providing for forestry education, one 
(H. E. 8389) providing an appropriation of $5,000 to each of the agricultural colleges, to be 
devoted either to instruction or providing object-lessons in the field; the other (H. E. 8390) 
providing for a post-graduate school — a national school of forestry — in connection with the 
Department of Agriculture and its Division of Forestry. 

No action beyond hearings before the Committee on Agriculture, to which the bills were 
referred, resulted. 

FEDERAL FOREST POLIOY. 

The most imiiortant development in establishing a forest policy in the United States has been 
the change in the disposition of its public timber lauds as a result of the educational campaign of 
the American Forestry Association. This association in 1888 presented a comprehensive bill, 
drawn by the chief of the Division of Forestry, jiroviding for the withdrawal from entry or sale 
of all public, timber lands not fit for agricultural use, and for their proper administration under 
technical advice (S. 1176 and S. 1779, Fiftieth Congress, first session). 

Modifications of this bill were introduced from year to year and their enactment urged. In 



FEDERAL FOREST POLICY. 



191 



the Fifty-first Congress, through the earnest insistence of Secretary of the Interior John W. 
Noble, who was fully imbued with the necessity of some action such as was advocated by the 
association, the following section was added to the act entitled "An act to repeal timber-culture 
laws, and for other purposes," approved March 3, 1891 : 

Sec. 24. That the President of the United States may, from time to time, set apart and reserve, in any State or 
Territory having public lands bearing forests, any part of the public lands wholly or in part covered with timber 
or undergrowth, whether of commercial value or not, as public reservations, and the President shall, by public 
proclamation, declare the establishment of such reservations and the limit thereof. 

Actiug upon this authority, Presidents Cleveland and Harrison established seventeen forest 
reservations, with a total estimated area of 17,500,000 acres previous to 1894. 

These forest reservations, together with the national parks which were established before, to 
be sure for quite different purposes, made thus the forest lauds reserved by the ^Government 
aggregate over 20,000,000 acres as follows : , 



Forest reservationa. 



Tellowstone National Park timber-land reserve (Wyo.) . 

White Elver Plateau tlmber-laiid reserve (Colo.) 

Pecos Elver forest reserve (N. Mex.) 

Sierra forest reserve (Cal. ) 

Pacific forest reserve (Wash.) 

Pikes Peak timber-land reserve (Colo.) 

Bull Eun timber-land reserve (Oreg;.) 

Plum Creek timber-land reserve (Colo.) 

Soutb Platte forest reserve (Colo.) 

San Gabriel timber-land reserve (Cal.) 

Battlement Mesa forest reserve (Colo.) 

Afognak forest and fish culture reserve ( Alaska) 

Grand Canyon forest reserve (Ariz.) 

Trabuco Canyon forest reserve (Cal.) 

San Bernardino forest reserve (Cal.) 

Ashland forest reserve /Oreg.) 

Cascade Kange forest reserve (Oreg.j 



Total acreage of forest reserves - 



Sept. 10, 1891 
Oct. 16,1891 
Jan. 11,1892 
Feb. 14,1893 
Feb. 20,1893 
Mar. 18, 1892 
June 17, 1892 
June 23, 1892 
Dec. 9, 1892 
Dec. 29,1892 
Dec. 24,1892 



.do . 



Sept. 28, 1893 



1, 239, 040 

1, 198, 080 
311,040 

4, 096, 000 
967, 680 
184, 320 
142, 080 
179, 200 
683, 520 
555, 520 
858, 240 
Unknown. 

1, 851, 520 
49, 920 
737, 280 
18, 560 

4, 492, 800 

17, 564, 800 



NATIONAL PAEKS. 



Yellowstone National Park 

Yosemite National P.irk 

Sequoia National Park 

General Grant National Park . 



2, 142, 720 

967, 680 

161, 280 

2,560 



a The numbers refer to those used on map, Plate II. 

The reservations were established usually upon the petition of citizens residing in the respec- 
tive States and after due examination, the forestry association acting as intermediary. 

Meanwhile the legislation devised for the administration of the forest reserves, existing or to 
be established, specially urged by Kepresentative McRae, chairman of Public Lands Committee, 
failed to be enacted, although in the Fifty-third Congress it was passed by both Houses, but failed 
in conference. 

Secretary Hoke Smith, of the Department of the Interior, impressed with the importance of 
devising some adequate system of protection and management of the forests, both within the 
reserves and in the public domain, and urged by the committee of the Forestry Association, 
under date of February 15, 1896, requested the National Academy of Sciences, the legally 
constituted adviser of the Government in scientific matters, to investigate and report " upon the 
inauguration of a rational forest policy for the forested lands of the United States." He especially 
desired an offlcial expression as to the desirability and practicability of preserving the forests 
from Are and maintaining as forested lands portions of the public domain now bearing wood 
growth; as to how far the iniiuence of forests on climate, soil, and water conditions warranted a 
policy of forest conservation in regions where the public domain is principally situated; and what 
specific legislation should be enacted to remedy existing evils. 

Under date of February 1, 1897, the academy submitted to Secretary Francis a preliminary 
report recommeudiug the creation of thirteen additional forest reserves with a total area of 
21,379,840 acres. These reserves were proclaimed, as recommended, by the President February 22, 
1897. On May 1, 1897, the president of the academy submitted his complete report, embodying 



192 FOKESTKY INVESTIGATIONS U. W. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTUKE. 

a comprehensive review of the subject, with recommendations and bills for the establishment of a 
bureau of forestry in the Department of the Interior. This report has been printed as Senate 
Document No. 105. 

The following forest reservations were created, upon the recommendation. of the committee of 
the National Academy of Sciences, their status'as to linal extent and retention as reserves being 
still in doubt : 

Acres. 

1. Black Hills Reserve iu South Dakota 967,680 

2. Big Horn Reserve in Wyoming 1, 198, 080 

3. Teton Forest Reserve in Wyoming 829,440 

4. Flathead Forest Reserve in Montana 1,382,400 

5. Lewis and Clarke Forest Reserve in Montana 2, 926,080 

6. Priest River Forest Reserve in Idaho and Washington 645, 120 

7. Bitter Root Forest Reserve in Montana and Idaho 4, 147, 200 

8. Washington Forest Reserve in Washington 3, 594, 240 

9. Olympic Forest Reserve in Washington 2, 188, 800 

10. Monnt Rainier Forest Reserve in Washington 1, 267,200 

11. Stanislaus Forest Reserve in California 691, 200 

12. San Jacinto Forest Reserve in California 787, 280 

13. Utah Forest Reserve 705,120 

Total estimated area 21,379,840 

The sundry civil appropriation bill passed June 4, 1897 (see Senate Doc. No. 102), set aside 
the proclamations of February 22, 1897, suspending the reservations, which were made upon the 
recommendation of the committee of the academy, until March 1, 1S98, presumably to give time 
for the adjustment of private claims aud to more carefully delimit the reservations, an apj)ropria- 
tion of $150,000 for the survey of the reservations under the supervision of the Director of the 
Geological Survey being made. The provisos attached to this appropriation embody the most 
important forestry legislation thus far enacted by Congress. These provisos had been in the main 
formulated in a bill known as the McEae bill (H. E. 119), which was passed by the House of 
Eepreseutatives and the Senate of the Fifty-third Congress — without, however, becoming a law; 
and again had passed the House in the Fifty-fourth Congress, it being tbe legislation advocated 
by the American Forestry Association as a first step toward a more elaborate forest administration 
of the public timber lands. Excluding minor items, the law provides that — 

All public lands heretofore designated and reserved by the President of the United States under the provisious 
of the act approved March third, eighteen hundred and ninety-one, the orders for which shall be aud remain in 
force and elfect, unsuspended and unrevoked, and all public lands that may hereafter be set aside and reserved as 
public forest reserves under said act, shall be as far as practicable controlled and administered in accordance with 
the following provisions : 

"No public forest reservation shall be established, except to improve and jirotect the forest within the reserva- 
tion, or for the purpose of securing favo able conditions of water How, and to furnish a continuous sujiply of timber 
for the use and uecessities of citizens of the United States ; but it is not the purpose or intent of these provisions or 
of the act providing for such reservations to authorize the inclusion therein of lands more valuable for the mineral 
therein or for agricultural purposes than for forest purposes. 

"For the purpose of preserving the living and growing timber and promoting the younger growth on forest 
reservations, the Secretary of the Interior, under such rules and regulations as he shall prescribe, may cause to be 
designated and appraised so much of the dead, matured, or large growth of trees found on such forest reservations 
as may be compatible with the proper utilization of the forests thereon, and may sell the same for not less th.an 
the appraised value in such quantities to each purchaser as he shall prescribe, to be used in the State or Territory 
in which such timber reservation may be situated, respectively, but not for export therefrom. Before such sale 
shall take place, notice thereof shall be given by the Commissioner of the General Land Office for not less than 
sixty days, by publication iu a newspaper of general circulation, published in the county in which the timber is 
situated, if any is therein published, and if not, then iu a newspaper of general circulation published nearest to the 
reservation, and also in a newspaper of general circulation published at the capital of the State or Territory where 
such reservation exists; payments for such timber to be made to the receiver of the local land office of the district 
wherein said timber may be sold, under such rules and reguhitions as the Secretary of the Interior may prescribe; 
and the moneys arising therefrom shall be accounted for by the receiver of such land office to the Commissioner of 
the General Land Office in a separate account, and sliall be covered into the Treasury. Such timber, before being 
sold, shall be marked and designated, and shall be cut .and removed under the supervision of some person appointed 
for that pui'pose by the Secretary of the Interior, not interested iu the purchase or removal of such timber nor iu 
the employment of the purchaser thereof. Such supervisor shall make a report in writing to the Commissioner of 



FEDERAL FOREST POLICY. 193 

the General Land Office and to the receiver in the land office in which such reservation shall he located of his 
doings in the premises. 

"Upon the recommendation of the Secretary of the Interior, with the approval of the President, after sixty 
days' notice thereof, published iu two papers of general circulation in the State or Territory wherein any forest 
reservation is situated and near the said reservation, any public lauds embraced within tlie limits of any forest 
reservation which, after due examination by personal inspection of a competent person appointed for that purpose 
by the Secretary of the Interior, shall be found better adapted for mining or for agricultural purposes than for forest 
usage, may be restored to the public domain. And any mineral lands iu any forest reservation which have been or 
which may be shown to be such, and subject to entry under the existing mining laws of the United States and the 
rules and regulations applying thereto, shall continue to be subject to such location and entry, notwithstanding any 
provisions herein contained." 

The law authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to permit the use of timber and stone by 
bona fide settlers, miners, etc., for firewood, fencing, buildings, mining, prospecting, and other 
domestic purjjoses. It protects the rights of actual settlers within the reservations, empowers 
them to build wagon roads to their holdings, enables them to build schools and churches, and 
provides for the exchange of such for allotments outside the reservation limits. The State within 
which a reservation is located maintains its jurisdiction over aU persons within the boundaries of 
the reserve. 

Under the above enactment, the Commissioner of the General Land Office has formulated 
rules and regulations for the forest reservations, and a survey of the reserves last proclaimed is 
being made by the United States Geological Survey, the appropriations for such a survey having 
been continued for the year 1898; and tlie date for the segregation of agricultural lands and their 
return to the public domain open for entry having been deferred. 

The appointment of forest superintendents, rangers etc., although not with technical knowl- 
edge, to take charge of the reservations marks the beginning of a settled policy of the United 
States Government to take care of its long-neglected forest lands. 

In this connection it will be interesting to show that the agitation for rational treatment of 
the public-timber domain is by no means of recent date, but may be said to celebrate this very 
year its silver jubilee. A quarter century ago exactly the first true forestry bill was introduced 
by Mr. Haldeman in the Forty-second Congress and was lost. It provided that in the disposal of 
the public domain the condition be inserted into the patents that 10 per cent of the laud shall be 
kept in timber, or, if not timbered, shall be planted to timber. 

The subjoined table exhibits the long struggle for some kind of legislation; the failure of the 
numerous bills introduced, and the inactivity of committees and legislatures. It was originally 
printed in Bulletin 2 of the Division of Forestry, Department of Agriculture, in 1887, and has been 
here brought up to date. 

It will be seen that hardly any kind of legislation which could be suggested has been over- 
looked, from the creation of forest commissions to investigate the subject to providing for fully 
organized forest administrations and the establishment of forestry schools. 

The earliest action of the General Government having regard to the preservation of timber 
was in 1799, when Congress appropriated $2(10,000 for "the purchase of growing or other timber, 
or of lands on which timber is growing, suitable for the Navy, aud for its preservation for future 
use." The special object of this legislation was to secure a supply of live-oak timber, which was 
considered peculiarly valuable for shipbuilding,, and was in great demand for that purpose, both 
at home and abroad, while its growth was confined to a limited i^ortion of our territory in the 
vicinity of the Gulf. Two small islands on the coast of Georgia, containing together about 2,000 
acres, were purchased under the act of 1799. Another act (Rev. Stat., sec. 2458), having 
the same object in view, was passed in 1817, by which the Secretary of the Kavy was directed to 
cause lands producing live oak or red cedar to be explored, and to have selections made of tracts 
necessary to furnish for the Navy a sufficient supply of such timbers. Under this act 19,000 acres 
iu Louisiana, which had recently become ours by purchase from France, were reserved. 

Additional enactments were made iu 1820 and 1827, by which the selection of lands to be 
reserved was intrusted to the surveyor of public lands in place of agents appointed by the 
Secretary of the Kavy, aud the President was authorized to withhold such lauds from sale. 

In 1822 an act was passed (Rev. Stat., sec. 21G0) authorizing the President to employ the 
land and naval forces, so far as necessary, effectually to prevent the felling or other destruction 
H. Doc. No. 181 13 



194 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



of timber in Florida, and to take such other measures as might be deemed advisable for the 
preservation of timber there. (Florida had recently been ceded to the United States by Spain, 
and was known to abound in live-oak timber.) 

In 1831 an act was passed (Rev. Stat,, sees. 2461, 2462, and 2463) of wider scope than that of 
1822. This made it a felony, with penalty of fine and imprisonment, to cut or remove timber 
from any of the public lands, whether reserved or not, except for the use of the I^avy, and 
subjected any vessel transporting such timber without proper authority and for any other purpose 
than for the use of the Navy, to confiscation, and the master of the vessel to a fine. 

This act is the one under which, up to the present time, all the protection they have had has 
been secured to the public forests, the Supreme Court having construed the act (9 How., 351) as 
authorizing the protection of all timber on the public lands and punishment for trespass upon the 
same. Under the act of 1831 the Treasury Department undertook a partial oversight and 
protection of timber on the public lands through its ordinary agents. In 1855 this oversight was 
transferred to agents of the Land Department, registers and receivers being instructed to act 
also as timber agents, but without any additional compensation. Where trespass was willfully 
committed, payment of stumpage was demanded or the timber was seized and sold and the 
proceeds paid into the Treasury. Where the trespass was committed ignorantly, actual entry of 
the land only was required, with payment of the usual entry charges. 

The first appropriation for the payment of agents specially employed for the protection of 
timber on the public lands was made in 1872, when $5,000 were appropriated. A like sum was 
appropriated annually thereafter for five years. In 1878, to meet expenses for suppressing depre- 
dations upon timber on the public lands, $25,000 were appropriated, and subsequently these 
appropriations were increased until in 1893 they reached the limit of $120,000, then to be reduced 
to $40,000, $60,000, and $90,000, for 1894, 1895, and 1896 respectively. 



House in 

wliich orig 

nated. 



Object of I)in. 



Action taken. 



1S71 
1871 



1871 
1872 



1874 
1874 



41st, 3(1 3' 
do.. 



42d, 1st £ 
42d, 2d s< 



43d, lat sess. 



H. K. 2930 . 
H. R. 3005 . 



H. R. 274 . 
H. K. 2197 



do 

do 

4;jd, 2d sess 

44tb, 1st SCS3 



H. R. 2497 . 
H.R.2540. 
H. R. 4430 . 



H. R. 323 . . 
Senate 2 . . 



For the sale of timber lauds in California and Oregon , 

To authorize the sale of timber lauds in California, Oregon, 
and Washington Territory, not exceeding 040 acres to 
one person ov association, without residence, at $2.50 per 
acre, 



-do. 



To encourage the planting of trees and the preservation 
of woods on the public domain. (The first real and com- 
preheusivo forestry bill.) 

Resolution that the Committee on Agriculture inquire 
whether a certain percentage of each quarter section of 
public lands sold must bo planted with trees or a certain 
percentage of existing forests preserved for the purpose 
of preventing or remedying drouth. 

Same as Garlield bill (274) above 



For the survey and disposal of the timber lands of tbe 
United States. Miners may buy stumpage, not more 
than ItiO acres, till that is cut, at $2.50 per acre. Home- 
steaders may buy 40 acres of timber land near agricul- 
tural land at same price. 

For the appointment of a commission for inquiry into the 
destruction of forests and into the measures necessary 
for the preservation of timber. 

For the appointment of a commission to inquire into the 
destruction of forests and into the measures necessary 
for the preservation of timber. 

To regulate the survey and sale of the timber lands of the 
United States. Commissioner of the Land Office to sur- 
vey and appraise lands more valuable for their timber 
than for agricultural use. Such lands not to be entered 
under homestead or prei?mption laws, but appraised and 
offered at public sale, and if not sold then to be open to 
private entry at a price not less than the appraisal. 

To regulate the survey and sale of the timber lands of the 
United States. Same bill as the preceding. 

To repeal section 2303 of the Revised Statutes, thereby 
opening timber lauds iu Southern States to private entry 
in unlimited quantities and at the reduced price of $1.25 
per acre. 



Referred to Committee on Public 

Lands. 
Passed in House. In Senate, referred 

to Committee on Public Lands. 



Referred to Committee on Public 
Lands. 

Referred to Committee on Agriculture. 
Reported favorably. Failed of pas- 
sage— 81 yeas, 87 nays. 

No action. 



Referred to Committee on Public 
Lands, June 3, reported back with 
amendments and recommitted. De- 
cember, 1874, H. R. bill 4194 reporied 
by committee as substitute. Passed 
February 22, 1875. In Senate, Feb- 
ruary 22, referred to Committee on 
Public Lands. 

Referred to Committee on Public 
Lands. Reported with amend- 
ments. 



Referred to Committee on Public 

Lands. Reported back with H. R. 

2540 as a substitute. 
Reported by Committee on Public 

Lanils as a substitute for preceding 

bill, H.R.2497. 
Referred to Committee on Public 

Lauds. 



Referred to Committee on Public 
Lands. Reported back and passed. 
In House referred to Committee on 
Public Lands. Passed House and 
became a law July 4, 1876, through 
inaction of the President. 



FEDERAL FOBESTEY LEGISLATION. 



195 



Congn 



House ii 

which orij 

Bated. 



Action taken. 



1876 
187G 



1877 
1877 



1878 

1878 



1878 
1873 



-do 



4r)th, 3d soaa ... 



4Gth, 1st s 
46th, 2d Si 



'FoT sale of timber lands in California, Oregon, and the Ter- 
ritories. Same as previous bills with aimilar title. 



For the sale of the timber lands in the Territories. Lands 
valuable for timber, but not for cultivation, to be sold at 
$2.5U per acre, not more than 40 acres to one person. 

To regiUate tho survey and sale of the timber lands of the 
United States. Lauds valuable chierty for timber not to 
be subject to entry under preemption or homestead laws, 
but to be appraised and sold at nut less than the ap- 
praised value. 

For the appointment of a commisaion, etc. Same as pre- 
ceding bill (H.K.2540). 



For the preservation of the forests adjacent to th 
of navigable rivers and other streams. Such timber 
lands to DO withdrawn from sale and a commission to de- 
termine what should be reserved so as to prevent scanty 
supply of water. 

For the sale of timber lands in the Territories. Same as 
bill {H. It. G60) in Forty-fourth Congress. 

To regulate the survey and sale of timber lands of the 
United States. Same as bills in the Forty-third and 
Forty-fourth Congresses. 

To put into market certain timber lands of the United 
States. Declaring subject to entry, in any quantity, all 
public timber lands in Alabama, Louisiana, and Minnesota 
which have been subject to entry in limited quantities 
for twenty years, and after entry of such lands to be no 
prosecution'for trespass or timber cutting. 

To provide for the entry of unsiu'veyed timber lands. 
Allowing the owner of a mine to take 160 acres of timber 
land for every 20 acres of mineral land owned by him, 
and the owner of agricultural land 40 acres for every 
quarter section, and for every $20,000 expended on a mill 
or furnace 640 acres may be taken at $2.50 per acre. 

Withdrawing lauds chiefly valuable for timber from entry 
under prel'mption or bomestead laws. Such lands to be 
surveyed and divided into "timber lands" and "min- 
eral timber lands." On the latter the timber only to be 
sold. Timber lands to be appraised and sold by commis- 
sioners. Such lands as are needed for irrigation pur- 
poses to be withheld from sale. 

$25,000 appropriated to suppress depredations on public 
timber. 

Allowing sale of timber lands unfit for cultivation in Cali- 
fornia, Oregon, Nevada, and Wasliington Territory at 
$2.50 per acre. No one person or association to enter 
more than 160 acres. 

Bill similar to next below 



Senate 760 .. 



Allowing residents of Colorado, Nevada, and other Terri- 
tories and all mineral districts to fell and remove, for 
building and other domestic purposes, trees on mineral 
lands. 

To regulate the survey and sale of timber lauds. Same as 
bill presented December, 1875 (H. K. 323), providing that 
timber lands more valuable for lumber than for agricul- 
tural purposes be reserved from entry under homestead 
or preemption laws, appraised, and sold to highest 
bidder, but not for less than appraisement. 

To regulate the survey and sale of timber lands of the 
United States. Same as last bill above. 

To prevent depredations upon timber in the Indian Terri- 
tory. 

Authorizing citizens of Colorado, Nevada, and the Terri- 
tories, to fell and remove timber on the public domain, 
for raining and domestic purposes. Extending the act 
of June, 1878. 

To prevent depredations upon timber on Indian reserva- 
tions. 

To prevent depredations upon timber on the Indian res- 
ervations. Same as last bill above. 

Act condoning trespass on public lands prior to March, 
1879. Persons against whom suits were pending prior to 
that date to enter lands trespassed upon and pay accrued 
costs, thereupon suits to be discontinued. At same time 
price to be paid for lands to be reduced from $2.50 to $1.25. 

For the classification of the public lands in Colora«'o and 
the sale of timber thereon. The Secretary of the Interior 
to regulate the sale, and reserve timber on head waters 
of streams and on mountains. 



Referred to Committee on Public 
Lands. Passed Senate Februarv, 
1876. In House February, 1876, re- 
ferred to Committeeon Public Lands. 
March, 1877, House refused to sus- 
pend rules and pass the bill. 

Referred to Committee on Public 
Lands. 

Referred to Committee on Public 
Lands. Reported with amendments 
and recommitted. 



Referred to Committee on Public 
Lands. No opportunity was af- 
forded for regular action on the bill, 
but, on motion of Mr. Dunnell, the 
substance of it was added as an 
amendment to the general appropri- 
ation bill, and became a law August- 
1877.a 

Referred to Committee on Public 
Lands. 



Reported by Committee on Public 
Lands as a substitute for several 
bills. Recommitted. 



Referred to Committee on Public 
Lands. Passed Senate. Reported 
to and passed House. Approved by 
President Juno 3. 

Referred to Committee on Public 
Lands. 

Referred to Committee on Public 
Lands. Amended and jiasaed by 
Senate. Passed House and signed 
by President June 3. 

Referred to Committee on Public 
Lands. 



Referred to Committee 

Affairs. 
Referred to Committee 

juands. 



Reported from the Committee on 

Indian Afl'airs. 
Referred to Committee on Indian 

Affairs. 
Approved by the President June 15, 



I Ey this enactment the Commissioner of Agriculture was directed to appoint a competent person to make the contemplated inquiries 
investigations. 



196 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



...do 



1883 

188;) 

188i 



188i 
1884 



1885 
1S85 



4sth, Ist £ 
-do... 



House JE 
nated. 



H. K. 6315 . 
H. K. 6997 - 



H.R.832... 
Senate 1258 



H.E.4S11.. 
H. R. 52U6 . . 
Seuate 15-44 



Object of bill. 



To amend act of 1878, so as to allow any one in Western 
States and Territories to remove timber from mineral 
lands for any purpose, under rules and regulations of the 
Secretary of the Interior and payment of $2.50 per acre 
for the timber. No timber to be cut by mill owners or 
lumber manufacturers. 

For the preservation of woods and forests adjacent to 
sources of navigable rivers. Same as bill introduced in 
House, First session, Forty-fourth Congress. 

For the preservation of wood.s, etc. Same as Senate bill 
next above. 

To provide for the classification and disposition of pine- 
timber lands. Such lands, chiefly valuable for their tim- 
ber, not to be subject to pr^emptioD or homestead entry, 
but to be appraised by the Secretary of the Interior, and 
sold from time to time at public sale, for not less than 
two-thirds the appraisement. Mineral lands exempt from 
tlie act. 

To regulate the sale of the timber lands of the United 
States. Similar to last bill above, but lands remaining 
unsold to be subject to private entry at the appraised 
value. 

For the protection and preservation of the forests of the 
United States. One hundred thousand dollars to bo 
appropriated to Colorado for the establishment of an 
experiment station under the direction of the Depart- 
ment of Agriculture, 

Act to exclude the public lands in Alabama from the oper- 
ation of laws relating to mineral lands, {In reality an 
act to sell all mineral lands in Alabama as agricultural 
lands, at private sale, in unlimited quantities, aud at the 
reduced rate of $l.i.'5 per acre, to citizens or aliens,) 

For the classification and disposition of pine-timber lands. 
Same as above bill presented in Forty-seventh Congress, 

For the preservation of woods and forests adjacent to 
sources of navigable rivers, etc. Same as bill in Forty- 
seventh Congress. 



49th, 2d 8683 . 



Seuate 1824 
Senate 2451 



H. R. ;i79 . . 
H. K, 294G . 



Senate 540 . 
Senate 596 . 



For the protection, preservation, and extension of the for- 
ests of the United States, To establish an experiment 
station in connection with the Department of Agricul- 
ture west of the Mississippi Kiver, To propagate and 
distribute forest trees, investigate qualities, time of 
growing, profit, etc. One hundred thousand dollars ap- 
propriated. 

Act to establish a forest reservation on the head waters of 
the Missouri and Columbia Kivers, 

For the protection of forests on the public domain. "With- 
draws all tinfber land from sale under existing laws. 
Forest commission to be appointed to examine and class- 
ify forest lands and determine what should be perma- 
nently reserved. Timber ou reserved lauds to be sold 
under direction of the Commissioner of the Land Office, 

To establish a forest reservation in Montana, Same as bill 
S. 1824, in Forty-eighth Congress. 

To repeal act of 1878 for the sale of timber lands in Cali- 
fornia, Oregon, Nevada, and Washington Territory, 

For the preservation of woods and forests adjacent to 
sources of navigable rivers, etc. Same as bill ottered in 
Forty-eighth Congress. 



-do. 



To define and punish the offense of setting fire to woods or 
forests belonging to the United States. 



For the protection of foresta in California. To withdraw 
from sale Government forest lauds in California not 
suited to agriculture. Such lands not to be alienated 
from the Government, but to be plated temporarily under 
the management of the forest commissioners of Califor- 
nia. Fifty thousand dollars appropriated to carry out 
the act. 

To set apart from the public domain in the State of Ore- 
gon, as a public park for the benefit of the people of the 
United States, townships 27, 28, 29. 30, aud 31, iji ranges 
5 and 6 east of the Willamette meridian, in the State of 
Oregon. 

To cancel certain reservations of lands ou account of Uve 
oak in the southwestern land district of the State of 
Louisiana. 



To establish a forest reservation on the headwaters of the 
Missouri Hiver and the headwaters of Clarks Fork of the 
Columbia Kiver. 

For the preservation of the woods aud forests of the 
national domain adjacent to the sources of the naviga- 
ble rivers and their affluents in the United States. 



Action taken. 



Referred to Committee on Agriculture. 



Koferred to Committee on Public 

Lands, 
Referred to Committee on Agriculture. 

Do, 
Do, 

Referred to Committee on Indian Af- 
fairs, Passed in Senate April 23; in 
House of Representatives referred 
to Committee on Indian Affairs. 

Referred to Committee on Agricul- 
ture and Forestry. 



Passed Senate June, 1884. In House 
printed. 

Referred to Committee on Agricul- 
ture. Reported favorably. 



Referred to Committee on Agricul- 
ture. Reported favorably. Massed 
Senate, In House on calendar. 

Referred to Committee on Public 
Lauds. 

Referred to Committee on Agricultui-e, 



Bo, 

Referred to Committee ou Judiciary. 
Reported at second session, with 
amendments, and placed on the Cal- 
endar. 
Referred to Committee on Public 
' Lands. Reported favorably. 



Reported back adversely and 
nitcly jiostponed. 



Referred to Committee on Public 
Lands. Reported back. Passed Sen- 
ate, Referred to House Committee 
on Public Lands. Reported back. 
Amended and passed House, Sen- 
ate concurs in House amendment. 
Examined and signed. Approved 
by President. 

Referred to Committee on Agriculture 
aud Forestry. 

Do. 



FEDERAL FORESTRY LEGIkSLATION. 



197 



House in 
which origi- 
nated. 



Object of bill. 



Action taken. 



50th, Ist sesa. 



Senate U76. 
Senate 1779. 
Senatel817. 



do 


SenateSSlO 


do 


Senate 2377 


do 


H. R. 1225'. 


do 

do 


H. E. 12.56 . 
H. li. laOO . 


do 


H. R. 1353 . 


do 


n.R.1982. 


do 


H.R.3239. 


do 


H. R. 3279. 


do 


H. R. 3306. 


do 


H.E.3410. 


do 


H.E. 6045. 


do 


ir.R.6709. 


do 


H.R. 7901. 



H. E. 9055 . . 
n. E. 11037 . 
Senate 549.. 
Senate 1394. 



Senate3199. 
Sonate4150. 



do 


n. R.705. 


do 


H. R. 4593 


do 


H. E. 5382 


do 


H. E. 7026 



For the protection and administration of the forests of the 
public doraaiD. 



To grant the State of Oregon townships 27, 28, 29, 30, and 
31 south, in ranges 5 and (i east of the Willamette merid- 
ian, in the State of Oregon, for a public park. 



To establish a public park to be called and known i 
Koyal Arch Park. 



To amend act authorizing citizens of Colorado, Nevada, 
and the Territories to fell and remove timber on the pub- 
lic domain for mining and domestic purposes. 

Authorizing citizens of Colorado, Nevada, and the Terri- 
tories to fell and remove timber on the public domain for 
mining and domestic purposes. 

For the protection of forest lands belonging to the United 
States and California. 

To establish a public park at Pagosa Springs, Colo 

To repeal the timber-land act of June 3, 1878 



To further amend the public-land laws, and for the preser- 
vation of natural forests on the public domain, tlie pro- 
tection of water supply, and for other purposes. 

To set apart a certain tract of laud situated on the head- 
waters of the Pecoa Kiver, in New Mexico, as a public 
park. 

For the preservation of the woods and forests of the na- 
tional domain adjacent to the sources of navigable rivers 
and their affluents in the United States. 

To define and punish the otfenso of setting fire to and burn- 
ing woods, grass, or forests on lands belonging to the 
United States. 

For the protection and the administration of the forests on 
the public domain. 

For the preservation of the woods and forests of the na- 
tional domain adjacent to the sources of tbe navigable 
rivers and their affluents in the United States. 

For the protection and administration of the forests of the 
public domain. 

To amend an act entitled "An act authorizing the citizens 
of Colorado, Nevada, and the Tirritories to fell and re- 
move timber on the public domain for mining and domes- 
tic purposes,'' approved June 3, 1878. 

To secure, to actual settlers the public lands adapted to 
agricultu?-e, to protect the forests on the public domain, 
and for other purposes. 



To amend section 5388 of the Revised Statutes of the United 
States in relation to timber depredations. 



To establisli a public park to be called and known aa the 
Eoyal Arch Park. 

To set apart a certain tract of land in the Territory of New 
Mexico as a public reservation. 

For the protection and administration of the forests on the 
public domain. 

Authorizing the citizens of Colorado, North Dakota, South 
Dakota, Montana, Nevada, and the Territories to fell 
and remove timber on the public domain for mining and 
domestic purposes. 

For tlie preservation of the woods and forests of the na- 
tional domain adjacent to the sources of the navigable 
rivers and their affluents in the United States. 

To authorize the entry of the public lands by incorporated 
towns for cemetery "and park purposes. 

For the protection of trees and other growth on the public 
domain from destruction by fire. 



For the preservation of the woods and forests of the na- 
tional domain ad,iacent to the sources of the navigable 
rivers and their affluents in the United States. 

To amend an act entitled "An act for the sale of timber 
lands in the States of California, Oregon, and Nevada, 
and in Washington Territory, " approved June 3, 1878. 

To dispose of the timber lands of the State of Arkansas at 
cash entry. 

For the reservation and preservation of forest lands on the 
public domain and to establish a conunission to examine 
into the condition of the said lands, and to report a plan 
for their permanent management. 



Referred to Committee on Public 
Lands. Reported back with amend- 
ments. Amended and passed Sen- 
ate. -Referred to House Committee 
on Public Lands. 

Referred to Committee on Agriculture 
and Forestry. 

Debated and refeiTed to the Commit- 
tee on Agriculture and Forestry. 

Referred to Committee on Public 
Lands. Reported back with amend- 
ment. Amended and passed Senate. 
Referred to House Committee on 
Public Lands. 

Referred to Committee on Public 
Lands. Reported back with amend- 
ments. Amended and passed Senate. 
Referred to House Committee on 
Public Lands. 

Referred to Committee on Public 
Lauds. 

Do. 



Referred to Committee on Public 

Lands. Laid on table. 
Referred to Committee on Public 



Referred to Committee on Agriculture. 

Referred to Committee on Revision of 
Laws. Reported back. 

Referred to Committee on Public 

Lands. Laid on table. 
Referred to Committee on Agriculture. 

Referred to Committee on Public 

Lands. Laid on table. 

Referred to Committee on Public 

Lauds. 



Reported by Committee on Public 
Lauds as a substitute for H. R. bill 
No. 6045 and other bills relating to 
the public lands. Passed. In Sen- 
ate referred to Committee on Public 
Lands. 

Passed House. Referred to Senate 
Committee on Indian Affairs. Re- 
ported back. Passed Senate. Ex- 
amined and signed. Approved by 
President. 

Referred to Committee on Public 
Lands. 
Do. 

Referred to Committee on Agriculture 

and Forestry, 
r.'ferred to Committee on Public 



Referred to Committee on Agriculture 
and Forestry. 

Referred to Committee on Public 
Lands. 

Introduced by Committee on Agricul- 
ture and Forestry. Debated, 
amended, and passed Senate. Re- 
ferred to House Committee on Pub- 
lic Lands. 

Referred to Committee on Public 
Lands. 



198 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



House in 
wbicli origi- 
nated. 



Action taken. 



51st, 1st sess- 



1890 
1891 
1891 



....do.. 

51st, 2([ £ 



1892 
1892 ' 



1892 
1892 

1892 
1893 
1893 
1893 
1893 
1893 



. . -do . 

...do. 



1895 
1895 



..do 

..do 



H. R. 8459 - . 

H. E. 10715 . 
H.R. 12750. 
H.K. 13390. 

Senate 382 . 

Senate 664 . 

Senate 2763. 



H.R. 29.-.. 

H.R. 102... 

H.K. 338... 
H.R. 2647.. 

H.R. 5979.. 

H.R. 6656.. 

H.R. 8259-. 
H.R. 8445.. 

H.R. 9709.. 
Senate 2275 
H.R. 9790.. 
H. R. 9981. - 
H.R. 10101. 
H.R. 10207. 
Senate 74... 



Senate 612... 



Senate 2069. 
H.R. 119.., 



H. R. 7173 . 
H. R. 7259 . 



To authorize entry of the public lands by incorporated 
cities and towns for cemetery and park purposes. 



For the protection of watersheds and irrigation systems 
and for the establishment of a forest administration on 
the "Western mountains and plains. 

To provide for the sale of timber and stone lands and the 
timber thereon. 

To dispose of the timber lands of the State of Arkansas 
at cash entry. 

To amend ' 'An act to set apart certain tracts of land in the 
State of California as forest reservations, approved Octo- 
ber 1, 1890." 

For the protection of trees and other grrowth on the public 
domain from destruction by fire. 

For the sale of timber lands in the State of Montana, and 
to make the same subject to the mineral laws of the 
TTniteci States after their sale as timber lands. 

For the protecuon and administration of the public forest 
reservations. 

Providing for an experimental forestry tree-culture reserve 

To provide for the establishment, protection, and adminis- 
tration of public forest reservations, and for otber pur- 
poses. 

To dispose of the timber lands of the State of Arkansas at 
cash entry. 

To secure to actual settlers the public lands adapted to 
agriculture, to protect the forests on the public domain, 
and for other purposes. 

For the preservation of the woods and forests of the na- 
tional domain adjacent to the sources of the navigable 
rivers and their affluents in the United States. 

For the protection of trees and other growtli on the public 
lands and on the public parks and reservations of the 
United States from destruction by fire. 

Regulating the manner and limitation of tree culture 



To provide for the sale of stone and limber lands unfit for 
cultivation, and for other purposes. 

To dispose of the timber lands of the State of Arkansas 
at cash entry. 

To repeal the act of October 1 , 1890, in relation to forest res- 
ervations in California, and instrnrting the Secretary of 
the Interior to issue patents to settlers thereon. 

To classify timber lands and provide for the sale of the 
timber thereon. 

For the relief of purchasers of timber and stone lands 
under the act of June 3, 1878, 



-do. 



Reserving the timber reservation in Oklahoma Territory 

for the henetit of the Territorial institutions of learning. 

To protect public forest reservations 



To provide for the protection and administration of public 
forest reservations, and for other purposes. 

To provide for the classification and disposition of the pub- 
lic lands, the protection and administration of the public 
forest reservations, and for other purposes. 

Authorizing citizens of that part of the State of "Washing- 
ton eastward of the Columbia River to fell and remove 
timber on the public domain for mining and domestic 
purposes. 

To protect public forest reservations 



To amend the act of June 3, 1878, for the sale of timber 

and stone lands. 
To protect public forest reservations 



For the relief of citizens who have entered lands under an 
act entitled "An act for the sale of timber lands in Cali- 
fornia, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington Territory." ap- 
proved June 3, 1878, and to ainend said act and all acts 
amendatory thereof. 

To amend an act entitled "An act for the sale of timber 
land in the States of California, Oregon, Nevada, and 
Washington Territory." 

To provide for the reduction of the limits of Battlement 
Mesa Forest Reserve, in the State of Colorado. 

For the relief of certain settlers who have entered lands 
under the timber and stone act, etc. 



Referred to Committee o: 
Lands. Reported back. 



Public 
Passed 
House. Referred to Senate Com- 
mittee on Public Lands. Reported 
hack with amendment. Amended 
and passed Senate. House noucon 
curs in Senate amendment. Confer- 
ence appointed. Conference report 
made and agreed to. Examined and 
signed. Approved by President. 
Referred to Committee on Irrigation 
of Arid Lands in the United States. 

Referred to Committee on Public 

Lands. 
Referred to Committee on Public 

Lands. Reported back. 
Bo. 



Referred to Committee on Agriculture 
and Forestry. Reported back ad- 
versely and indefinitely postponed. 

Referred to Committee on Public 
Lauds. 

Referred to Committee on Agriculture 
and Forestiy. Reported back ad- 
versely and indefinitely postponed. 
Do. 
Referred to Committee on Agriculture 
and Forestry. Reported back with 
amendments. 
RefeiTed to Committee on Public 
Laid on table, 
to Committee on Publi* 



Land; 

Referred 

Lands. 



Referred to Committee on Agriculture. 



Referred to Committee on Puhlic 

Lands. 
Introduced by Committee on Pablic 

Lands as substitute for H. R. 5142 

and H. R. 29. Laid on table. 
Referred to Committee on Public 
Lands. 
Referred to Committee on Private 

Claims. 

Referred to Committee on Public 

Lands. 
Passed House. Examined and signed . 



Referred to Committee 

Lands. Reported back. 

Referred to Committee 



Public 
Public 



Referred to Committee on Public 
Lands. Reported back with amend- 
ments. Debated. Withdrawn. 

Referred to Committee on Public 
Lands. 

Recommitted to Committee on Public 
Lands. Reported back with amend- 
ments. Resolution making bill spe- 
cial order reported, debated, and 
withdrawn. 

Referred to Committee on Public 
Lands. H. R. 7359 reported as sub- 
stitute. 



Referred to Committee on Public 
Lands. Reported back. Debated. 

Referred to Committee on Public 
Lands. 

Introduced by Committee on Public 
Lands a.s substitute for H. R. 4726. 
Passed House. Referred to Senate 
Commiltee on Public Lands. Re- 
ported back. 



FEDERAL FORESTRY LEGISLATION. 



199 



1895 
1895 
1895 



633, 3a se33-. 

do 

53d, 3d sesa. 
.do 



1890 
189G 
1890 
1806 



1896 
1896 



do ... 

54tli, 1st ! 



1396 
1896 



1890 
1896 



]896 
1896 



1896 
1896 



House in 

wliicli origi' 

nated. 



H.E.7854.. 

H.E.7918-. 
Senate 2571 
H.E. 119... 



H. E. 7259 . . . 
H. E. 7854 . . . 

H.E. 8323-.. 

Seniite 914 . , 
Senate 1214 
Senate 1349 
Senate 1632 



Senate 1803 , 
Senate 2118 



Senate 2946 
Senate 2963 



H.E. 40.... 
H.E. 119... 



H. E. 832 . . 

H.E. 2280. 



H.E. 4065.. 
H. E. 4067 . . 

H.E. 4336. 

H. E. 4442 . 

H.E. 4562. 
H. E. 4991 . 



H.E. 8730. 
H. E. 9123 . 



Object of bill. 



To prevent the free use of timber on the public lands and 
to revoke all penults heretofore granted in certain States, 
and for other purposes. ^ . . , 

Authorizing bona fide settlers on public lands to cut timber 
therefrom, and for other purposes. 

To create a forestry commission 

To protect iiuhlic forest reservations 



Action taken. 



For the relief of certain settlers, who have entered lands 

under the timber and stone act, etc. 
To prevent the free use of timber on the public lands and 

to revoke all permits heretofore granted in certain States, 

and for other purposes. 
Making an additional appropriation to meet the expenses 

of protecting the timber on the pubUo lands for the fiscal 

year ending June 80, 1895. 
To protect public forest reservations 

To appropriate funds for investigations and tests of Ameri- 
can timber. , , ,. , i ^ 

For the relief of applicants to purchase public lands under 
the timber and stone act. - . . » 

To permit owners of claims to iron and coal mines on forest 
reservations of the United States to perfect their titles 
thereto, and to procure a patent therefor, and for other 
purposes. 

To repeal section 8 of an act entitled "An act to repeal 
timber-culture laws, and for other purposes," approved 
March 3, 1891. 

To protect public forest reservations 



To protect and administer the public timber lands 

To amend sections 18, 19, 20, and 21 of the act entitled "An 
act to repeal timber-culture laws, and for other pur- 
poses," approved March 3, 1891. 

For the relief of purchasers of timber and atone lands 
under the act of June 3, 1878. 

To prevent the free use of timber on the public lands for 

commercial use, and for other purposes. 
To protect public forest reservations 



To protect the forests on the public domain from deatruc- 

To open the forest reservations of the State of Colorado for 
the location of mining claims. 

To set apart cerfain lands now known as the Pacific For- 
est Keservation as a public park, to be known as the 
Washington National Park. 



For the relief of applicants to purchase public lands under 
the timber and stone act. , - . . , 

To amend an act entitled "An act for the sale of timber 
lands in the States of California, Oregon, Nevada, and in 
■Washington Territory," apprr^ved June 3. 1878. ^ 

To extend the mineral land laws of the United btates to 
lands embr.aced within reservations created by Presi- 
dential proclamation, and for other purposes. 

To amend the act of June 3, 1878, entitled "An act for the 
sale of timber lands in the States of California, Oregon, 
Nevada, and in Washington Territory,' as amended by 
section 2 of the act of iVugust 4, 1892. ^. ^. , 

To amend an act entitled "An .act for the sale of timber 
lands in the St.ates of California, Oregon, Nevada, and 
Washington Territory." , , *, 

To open forest reservations in the State of Colorado tor the 
location of mining claims. 



Eeferred to Committee on Public 
Lands. Eeported back with amend- 
ment. 

Eeferred to Committee on Public 
Lands. 

Eeferred to Committee on Forest Ees- 
ervations. 

Debated in the House. Amended and 
passed House. Eeferred to Senate 
Committee on Public Lands. Eefer- 
ence changed to Committee on Forest 
Eeservations. Eeported back with 
amendment. Amended and passed 
Senate. Eeferred to House Commit- 
tee on Public Lands. Conference 
■appointed. Eeport made and with- 
drawn. 

Passed Senate. E.xamined and signed. 

Debated, amended, and passed House. 

Eeferred to Senate Committee on 

Public Lands. 
Eeferred to Committee on Ajipropria- 

tions. 

Eeferred to Committee on Forest 
Eeservations. 

Eeferred to Committee on Agriculture 
and Forestry. 

Eeferred to Committee on Public 
Lands. 

Eeferred to Committee on Public 
Lands. Eeported back with amend- 
ments. Amended and passed Sen- 
ate. Eeferred to House Committee 
on Public Lands. Eeported back 
with amendment. 

Eeferred to Committee on Public 
Lands. 

Eeferred to Committee on Forest Ees- 
ervations and Protection of Game. 
Eeported back. Passed over in 
Senate. 

Eeferred to Committee on Forest Ees- 
ervations and Protection of Game. 

Eeferred to Committee on Public 
Lands. 

Eeferred to Committee on Public 
Lands. Eeported back adversely 
and laid on table. 

Eeferred to Committee on Public 
Lands. 

Eeferred to Committee on Public 
Lands. Eeported back with amend- 
ment. Passed House. Eeferred to 
Sen.ate Committee on Forest Eeser- 
vations and Protection of Game. 

Eeferred to Committee on Public 
Lands. 

Eeferred to Committee on Public 
Lands. H. E. 4991 reported as sub- 
stitute. 

Eeferred to Committee on Public 
Lands. Eeported back with amend- 
ment. Amended and passed House. 
Eeferred to Senate Committee on 
Forest Eeservations and Protection 
of Game. 

Eeferred to Committee on Public 
Lands. 
Do. 



To appropri.ate funds for invostigat 

can timber. 
To prevent forest fires on the public domain 



and tests of Ameri- 



Eeferred to Committee on Indian Af- 
fairs. 

Eeferred to Committee on Public 
Lands. Eeported back. 

Eeferred to Committee on Public 
L.ands. 

Introduced by Committee on Public 
Lands as substitute for H. E. 2280. 
Debated and passed House. Ee- 
ferred to Senate Committee on Pub- 
lic Lands. Eeported back Passed 
Senate. Examined and signed. Ap- 
proved by President. 

Eeferred to Committee on Agriculture. 

Eeferred to Committee on Public 
Lands. Reported liack. Debated 
and passed House. Eeferred to Sen- 
ate Committee on Public Lands. 



200 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, 



1896 
1896 
1897 



1897 
1897 



54th, 1st sess 



ated. 



n. R. 9124 . . 
H. K. 9143 . . 
Senate 3632 



H. K. 9123 . . . 

H. K. 9923 . . , 
H. R. 10270 . 
n. E. 10356 . 

H. R. 4058 - . 



Object of biU. 



To protect the forests on the public domain from destrnc- 

tion by fire. 
To protect public forest reservations 



To permit owners of clnima to iron and coal mines on forest 
reservations of the United States to perfect their title 
thereto, and to procure a patent therefor, and for other 
purposes. 

To protect public forest reservations 

To protect the forests of the ]>ublic domain from destruc- 
tion by fire. 

To prevent forest fires on the public demain 



To confirm title to purchasers of certain lands under the 

timber and stone law. 
Providing for the selection of lands in lieu of swarap lands 

included in forest reservations. 
To restore to tbe public domain the lands embraced within 

the forest reservations in the State of "Wyoming set up 

and established by Executive order February 22, 1897. 
To set apart certain lands, now known as the Pacific Forest 

Reserve as a public park, to be known as the Wa3hinj;;ton 

National Park. 



Action taken. 



Referred to Committee on Public 

Lauds. Reported back. 
Referred to Committee on Public 

Lands. 
Consideration in House objected to. 



Reported back and passed Senate 
Examined ami signed. Approved 
by President. 



To give a more complete view of tbe action of tlie Government in its bearings npon forestry, 
it seems proper to append to the foregoing synopsis tlie following record of legislation, actual as 
well as only proposed: 

TIMBER-CULTURE ACTS. 



House in 

which ori^ 

nated. 



Object of bill. 



47th, lstses8. 

do 

49th, lat sess 



...do 

...do 



50th, l8t sess- 
do 



....do 

51st, lat sesa . 



H. R. 452 .. . 
n.R.380.-. 
H.R.5210.. 



H. R.2003.., 
Senate 66 . . 



To-encourage the growth of timber on "Western prairies. 
A person planting 40 acres of timber trees on Govern- 
ment land to be entitled to 160 acres at the expiration of 
10 years. The so-called timber-culture act. 

To amend the above act. Ooulines privilege of entry to 
heads of families or persons over 21 years of age and to 
citizens of tbe United States. Reduces tbe time for 
perfecting title to eight years. Restricts the amount 
to be entered by one person to 160 acres. Allows home- 
steaders to obtain patent by planting one-sixteenth of 
homestead with trees. 

To amend act of 1873. Allows extension of time for per- 
fecting title in case of tbe destruction of trees by grass- 
hoppers ; also permits seeds and nuts to be planted in- 
stead of trees. 

To amend the act of 1873. Reducing the number of acres 
to be planted to 10 for every quarter section, and in the 
same proportion for smaller quantities, but requiring 
closer planting— 2,7U0 trees per acre. Five acres to be 
broken first year and 5 the second, and planted with 
trees in the third and fourth years. Repeals the home- 
stead provision of tbe act of 1874. 

To amend the act of 1878. Specifying the kinds of trees to 
be planted. 

To repeal the act of 187S 

To repeal all laws for the preemption of public lands and 
those allowiug entries for timber culture, the sale of 
desert lands, etc. 

To repeal all laws for the preemption of public lands and 
those allowing entries for timber culture. 

To repeal preemption and timber culture laws. Nearly 
identical with bill 452. 

To repeal all laws for the preemption of public lands and 
for timber-culture entries. 

To amend the act of 1878 

To amend an act entitled "An act to amend an act entitled 
'An act to encourage the growth of timber on the West- 
ern prairies.' " 

To repeal all laws providing for the preemption of the pub- 
lic lands, tbe laws allowing entries for timber culture, 
the laws authorizing the sale of desert lands, and for 
other purposes. 

To repeal all laws providing for the preemption of the pub- 
lic lands, the laws allowing entries for timber culture, 
and for other puri)oses. 

To repeal the preemption and timber-culture laws, and to 
amend the desert-land act, and for other purposes. 

To repeal all laws providing for the preemption of the pub- 
lic lands, the laws allowing entries for timber culture, 
and for other purposes. 

To amend an act entitled "An act to amend an act entitled 
'An act to encourage the growth of timber on the West- 
ern praii'ies.' " 

To repeal all laws providing for the preemption of the pub- 
lic lands, the law allowing entries for timber eulture and 
amending other land laws, and for other purposes. 



Referred to Committee on Public 
Lands. Reporteil favorably and 
passed. Approved March 3, 1873. 

Passed and approved March 13, 1874. 



Referred to Committee on Public 
Lands. Reported favorably. Passed 
and approved May 20, 1877. 

Reported with amendments by com- 
mittee. Passed and approved June 
14. 1878. 



Referred to Committee on Public 
Lands. Reported back adversely 
and indefinitely postponed. 

Referred to Committee on Public 
Lands. Reported back. Passed 
Senate. Referred to House Com- 
mittee on Public Lands. 

Referred to Committee on Public 
Lands. 



FEDEEAL FORESTRY LEGISLATION. 
TIMBEE CULTURE ACTS— Continued. 



201 



Congress. 



House in 
whicli origi- 
nated. 



Object of bill. 



Action taken. 



1890 
1890 



1891 

1891 

1892 

1892 

1892 

1892 

1892 
1892 

1892 

1892 

1892 
1892 
1893 



1895 
1895 
1895 
1895 
1895 



51st, Ist sess . 
....do 




....do. 

....do. 
....do . 
....do. 



H.K.550... 

H.K.5404.. 

H.R.5598.. 
H.Ii.7254.. 



Senate 5129 

H.R.7254.. 

Senate 1024 

Senate 1179 

Senate 1248 

Senate 2180 

Senate 3281 
Senate 3393 

H.R.412... 

n.E.7C91.. 

H. K. 8702. . 
H.R. 9003.. 
Senate 25G4 

Senate 113 . 



Simate 1281 
Senate 1696 
H.R. 4458.. 



.do. 



H.R. 8424-. 
Senate 103 . 



Senate 1378 
H.R. 2G-44.. 
H.R. 3543... 
H.R. 4248-. 

H. R. 4C94-. 



To amend an act entitled " An act to amend an act entitled 
'An act to encourage the growth, of timber on the "West- 
ern prairies.' " 

To provide for the commutation of timber- culture entries. . 



To repeal the tim ber-culture act 

To repeal the timber-culture laws, and for other parposes. 



To amend section 8 of an act approved Mar. 3, 1891, en- 
titled "An act to repeal timber-culture laws, and for other 
purposes.'' 

To repeal timber-culture laws, and for other purposes 



To amend chapter 561 of the laws of the second session of 
the 51st Congress entitled " An act to repeal timber-cul- 
ture laws, and for other purposes." 

To amend section 1 of an act approved ITar. 3, 1891, en- 
titled "An act to repeal timber-culture laws, and for 
other purposes." 

To repeal section 24 of an act entitled "An act to repeal 
timber-culture laws, and for other purposes," approved 
Mar. 3, 1891. 

Declaring the construction of an act entitled "An act to 
repeal timber-culture laws, and for other purposes," 
approved Mar. R. 1891. 

To amend section 7 of "An act to repeal timber-culture 
laws, and for other purposes," approved Mar. 3, 1891. 

To amend an act approved March 3, 1891, entitled "An act 
to repeal timber-culture laws, and for other purposes." 

To amend section 1 of an act entitled "An act to repeal 
timber-cnlturc laws, and for other purposes." 

To amend an act entitled "An act to repeal timber culture 
laws, and for other purposes." 

To .^mend an act to repeal timber-culture laws, and for 
other purposes. 

To amend se<rtion 24 of "An act to repeal timber- culture 
laws, and for other purposes," approved Mar. 3, 1891. 

To amend section 6 of the act approved Mar. 3, 1891. en- 
titled "An act to repeal limber- culture laws, and for 
otiier purposes." 

To extend the provisions of " An act to amend section 8 of 
an act approved Mar. 3, 1891, entitled 'An act to repeal 
the timber-cultnre laws, and for other purposes,' " to all 
of that part of Oregon lying east of the Cascade range 
of mountains. 

To amend section 6 of an act approved Mar. 3, 1891, en- 
titled "An act to repeal timber- culture laws, and for 
other purposes." 



To amend section 7 of "An act to repeal timber-culture 
laws, and for other purposes," approvt-d Mar. 3, 1891. 

To amend an act approved Mar. 8, 1891, entitled " An act 
to repeal timber-culture laws, and for other purposes." 

To amend section 7 of "An act to repeal timber-culture 
laws, and for other purposes," approved Mar. 3, 1891. 



.do. 



To amend the law relating to final proofs in timber-culture 

entries. 
Relating to final proof in timber-culture entries 



To amend an act entitled "An act to repeal timher-cnlture 
laws, and for other purposes," approved Mar. 3, 1891. 

To amend the law relating to final proofs in timber-culture 
entries. 

To amend the law relating to final proof in timber-culture 
entries. 

Granting to certain successful contestants of timber-cul- 
ture entries the privilege of now exercising their right 
of entry under the timber- culture act of June 14, 1878. 

To amonti section 1 of the act of Mar. 3, 1891, entitled 
"An act to repeal timber-culture laws, and for other pur- 



Referred to Committee on Public 
Lands. H. R: 7254 reported as a 
substitute. 

Referred to Committee on Public 
Lands. 

Introduced by Committee on Public 
Lands as substitute for H. R. 5404. 
Debated and passed House. Re- 
ported back with amendment De- 
bated, amended, and passed Senate. 
Referred to House Committee on 
Public Lands. House noucimcurs 
in Senate amendments. Conference 
appointed. 

Passed Senate. Debated and passed 
House. Examined and signed. Ap- 
proved by President. 

Conference report made. Debated and 
agreed to. Examined and signed. 
Approved by President. 

Referred to Committee on Public 
Lands. 

Referred to Committee on Public 
Lands. Reported back adversely 
and indefinitely postponed. 



Referred to Committee on 

Lands. 
Referred to Committee on 

Lands. Reported back with i 

ments. 
Referred to Committee on 

Lands. H. R. 7961 reported i 

stitute. 
Introduced by Committee on 

Lands as substitute ibr H. ] 

Debated. 
Referred to Committee on 

Lands. 
Introduced by Committee on ! 

Lands as substitute for H. R. : 
Reported hack. 



Referred to Committee on Public 
Lands. Reported back. Passed 
House. Referred to Senate Com- 
mittee on Public Lands. Reported 
back. Passed Senate. Examined 
and signed. Approved by President. 

Referred to Committee * on Public 
Lands. 
Do. 

Referred to Committee on Public 
Lands. Reported b.ack. 

Referred to House Committee on the 
Judiciary. 

Referred to Committee on Public 
Lands. 

Referred to Committee on Public 
Lands. Reported back with amend- 
ment; amended and passed Senate. 
Referred to House Committee on 
Public Lands. Reported back. De- 
bated, amended, and passed House. 
Senate concurs in amendments. Ex- 
amined and signed. Approved by 
President. 

Referred to Committee on Public 
Lands. 



202 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

TIMBER CULTUEE ACTS— Continnert. 













Year. 


Con-roas. 


wbich orif^i- 
11 ate d. 


Object of bill. 


Action taken. 


1896 


54th, 1st sess 


n. K. 4959... 


To repeal section 8 of an act entitled "An act to repeal 
timber-culture laws and for otber purposes," approved 
Mar. 3, 1819. 


Referred to Committee on Public 
Lands. 


1897 


51tli,2dses9 


Senate 3328 . 


To amend an act entitled "An act to repeal the timber- 
culture laws, and for otber purposes." 


Keforred to Committee on Public 
Lands. Reported back. Passed 
Senate. Referred to House Com- 
mittee on Public Lands. Reported 
back witb amendments. Debated, 
amended, and passed House. Sen- 
ate concurs in House amendments. 
Examined and signed. Senate re- 
quests President to raturn bill. 
President complies witb Senate re- 
quest. Debated and referred to 
Senate Committee on the Judiciary. 
Committee discbarf^ed. bill recon- 
sidered, and House amendments 
nonconcurred in. Conference ap- 
pointed. Conference report made 
and agreed to. Examined and 
signed. 


1897 


5-ttli,2dse3S 


Senate 3GS9 - 


To amend an act entitled "An act to repeal tbe timber-cul- 
ture laws, and for otber purposes." 


Referred to Committee on Pnblic 
Lands. 




do 














Lands. Reported back. 



FOE THE ESTABLISHMENT AND ENDOWMENT OF EORESTET SCHOOLS. 



1882 
1883 

1881 
1886 
1895 


47th, 1st sess 

47tli, 2d sess 

48tli, 1st sess 

49tli, Ist sess 

54th. 1st seas 


Senate 1880 - 
H. R.7440... 

H.E.4361... 
H. E. 282S... 
Senate 793 . . 


To .lid in the endowment of a school of forestry at St. Paul. 

Granting; 300 sections of public laud for the purpose. 
To grant lands to Dakota for the purpose of establishing a 

school of forestry. Granting 400 sections of land for the 

purpose. 
To grant lauds to Dakota for the purpose of establishing a 

scliool of forestry. Same bill as tbe preceding. 
To grant lands to Dakota for the purpose of establishing a 
, .school of forestry. Same as two preceding bills. 
To establish and maintain a national school of forestry 


Referred to 

tore. 
Referred to 

Lands. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 
Do. 


Committee 
Committee 


on Agricul- 
on Public 













HECENT LEG1.SLATION. 

[The following legislation was embodied in the sundry civil appropriation bill, which became 
a law ill 1897. This law enables the Secretary of the Interior to formulate a plan for the proper 
administration of the forest reservations, but its iirovisions can hardly become operative without 
a sufficient appropriation to carry it into effect. Plans for the survey of the reserves, as provided 
in the following law, are now (June 24) about matured.] 

AN ACT making appropriations for sundry civil expenses, etc., approved June 4, 1897. 
{1897. Fifty-iifth Congress, first session.) 

The sections of the bill referring to the forest reservations are as follows: 

For tlie survey of the public lands that have been or may hereafter be designated as forest reserves by 
Executive proclamation, under section twenty-four of the act of Congress approved March third, eighteen hundred 
and ninety-oue, entitled "An act to repeal timber-culture laws, and for other purposes," and including public lands 
adjacent thereto, which may be designated for survey by the Secretary of the Interior, one hundred and fifty 
thousand dollars, to be immediately available : Provided, That to remove any doubt which may exist pertaining to 
the authority of the President thereunto, the President of the United States is hereby authorized and empowered to 
revoke, modify, or suspend any and all such Executive orders and proclamations, or any part thereof, from time to 
time as he shall deem best for the public interests: Provided, That the Executive orders and proclamations dated 
February twenty-second, eighteen hundred and ninety-seven, setting apart and reserving certain lands in the 
States of Wyoming, Utah, Montana, Washington, Idaho, and South Dakota as forest reservations, be, and they are 
hereby, suspended, and the lauds embraced therein restored to the public domain the same as though said orders and 
proclamations had not been issued: Provided, further, That lands embraced in such reservations, not otherwise 
disposed of before March first, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, shall again become subject to the ojierations of 
said orders and proclamations as now existing or hereafter modified by the President. 

The surveys herein provided for shall be made, under the supervision of the Director of the Geological Survey, 
by such person or persons as may be employed by or under him for that purpose, and shall be executed under 
instructions issued by the Secretary of the Interior; and if subdivision surveys shall be found to be necessary, they 
shall be executed under the rectangular system, as now provided by law. The plats and field notes prepared shall 
be approved and certified to by the Director of the Geological Survey, and two copies of the field notes shall be 
returned, one for the files in the United States surveyor-general's office of the State in which the reserve is situated, 



FEDERAL FOKESTRY LEGISLATION. 203 

the other in the General Land Office; and twenty photolithographic copies of the plats shall he returned, one copy 
for the files in the United States surveyor-general's oi3ice of the State in which the reserve is situated; the original 
plat and the other copies shall he filed in the General Land Office, and shall have the facsimile signature of the 
Director of the Survey attached. , ^ , , , j. 

Such surveys, field notes, .ind plats thus returned shall have the same legal force and effect as heretofore given 
the surveys, field notes, and plats returned through the surveyors-general; and such surveys, which mclucle subdi- 
vision surveys under the rectangular system, shall ho approved by the Commissioner of the General Land Office as m 
other cases, and properly certified copies thereof shall be filed in the respective land offices of the districts m which 
such lands are situated, as in other cases. All laws inconsistent with the provisions hereof are hereby declared 
inoperative as respects such survey: Provided, however, that a copy of every topographic map and other maps 
showing the distribution of the forests, together with such field notes as may be taken relating thereto, shall be 
certified thereto by the director of the survey and filed in the General Land Office. 

All public lands heretofore designated and reserved by the President of the United States under the provisions 
of the act approved March third, eighteen hundred and ninety-one, the orders for which sliall be and remain in full 
force and eiiect, unsuspended and unrevoked, and all public lands that may hereafter be set aside and reserved as 
public forest reserves under said act, shall be as far as practicable controlled and administered in accordance with 
the following provisions: 

No public forest reservation shall bo established except to improve and protect the forest within the reservation, 
or for the purpose of securing favorable conditions of water flows, and to furnish a continuous supply of timber for 
the use and necessities of citizens of the United States ; but it is not the purpose or intent of these provisions, or of 
the act providing for such reservations, to authorize the inclusion therein of lands more valuable tor the mineral 
therein or for agricultural purposes than for forest purposes. 

The Secretary of the Interior shall make provisions for the protection against destruction by fire and depreda- 
tions upon the public forests and forest reservations which may have been set aside or which may be hereafter set 
aside under the said act of March third, eighteen hundred and ninety-one, and which may be continued; and he 
mav make such rules and regulations and establish such service as will insure the objects of such reservations, 
namely to regulate their occupancy and use and to preserve the forests thereon from destruction; and any violation 
of the provisions of this act or such rules and regulations shall be punished as is provided for in the act of June 
fourth, eighteen hundred and eighty-eight, amending section fifty-three hundred and eighty-eight of the Revised 
Statutes of the United States. xi ^ + 

For the purpose of preserving the living and growing timber and promoting the younger growth on forest 
reservations, the Secretary of the Interior, under such rules and regulations as he shall prescribe, may cause to be 
dosi-vnated and appraised so much of the dead, matured, or large growth of trees found upon such forest reserva- 
tions as may be compatible with the utilization of the forests thereon, and may sell the same for not less than the 
appraised v^alue in such quantities to each purchaser as he shall prescribe, to be used in the State or Territory in 
which such timber reservation may be situated, respectively, but not for export therefrom. Before such sale shall 
take place, notice thereof shall be given by the Commissioner of the General Land Office, for not less than sixty 
days, by publication in a newspaper of general circulation, published in the county in which the timber is situated, 
if any is therein published, and if not, then in a newspaper of general circulation published nearest to the reserva- 
tion, and also in a newspaper of general circulation published at the capital of the State or lemtory where such 
reservation exists ; payments for such timber to be made to the receiver of the local land office of the district wherern 
said timber may be sold, under such rules and regulations as the Secretary of the Interior may prescribe; and the 
moneys arising therefrom shall be accounted for by the receiver of such land office to the Comniissioner of the 
General Land Office in a separate account, and shall be covered into the Treasury. Such timber, before being sold, 
shall be marked and designated, and shall be cut and removed under the supervision of some person appointed tor 
that purpose by the Seeretarv of the Interior, not interested in the purchase and removal of such timber nor in the 
employment of the purchaser thereof. Such supervisor shall make report in writing to the Commissioner of the 
General Land Office and to the receiver in the land office in which such reservation shall be located o± his doings in 
the premises.^^^^ ^^ ^^^^ ^^^^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^_^^ ^^^^^^ regulations to be prescribed by him, the use of timber and 
stone found upon such reservations, free of charge, hy bona fide settlers, miners, residents, and prospectors for 
minerals, for firewood, fencing, buildings, mining, prospecting, and other domestic purposes, as may be needed by 
such persons for such purposes; such timber to be used within the State or Territory, respectively, where such 
reservations may be located. „ , , j^^, -t „;*!,;„ ti,Q 

Nothing herein shall be construed as prohibiting the egress or ingress of actual settlers residing withm the 
boundaries of such reservations, or from crossing the same to and from their property or homes; and such wagon 
roads and other improvements may be constructed thereon as may be necessary to reach their homes and to uuhze 
their propertv, under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior. Nor sfiaJl 
anything herein prohibit any person from entering upon such forest reservations for all proper and awful Purposes 
including that of prospecting, locating, and developing the mineral resources thereof: Provided, That such persons 
comply with the rules and regulations covering such forest reservations. ..■,-,, •+! ■ +i,„ 

That in cases in which a tract covered by an unperfected bona fide claim or by a patent is included withm the 
limits of a public forest reservation, the settler or owner thereof may, if he desires to do so, relinquish the tract to 
the Government, aud may select in lieu thereof a tract of vacant l.ind open to settlement not exceeding in area tne 
tract covered by his claim or patent; and no charge shall be made in such cases for making the entry ot record or 
issuino- the patent to cover the tract selected : Provided further, That in cases of unperfected claims the requirements 



204 FORESTRY INVEf^TIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

of the laws respecting settlement, residence, improvements, and so forth, are complied with on the new claims, 
credit being allowed for the time spent on the relinquished claims. 

The settlers residing within the exterior boundaries of such forest reservations, or in the vicinity thereof, may 
maintain schools and churches withiu such reservation, and for that purpose may occupy any part of the said forest 
reservation, not exceeding two acres for each schoolhouse and one acre for a church. 

The jurisdiction, both civil and criminal, over persons within such reservations shall not be affected or 
changed by reason of the existence of such reservations, except so far as the punishment of offenses against the 
United States therein is concerned; the intent and meaning of this provision being that the State wherein any 
such reservation is situated shall not, by reason of the establishmeiit thereof, lose its jurisdiction, nor the 
inhabitants thereof their rights and privileges as citizens, or be absolved from their duties as citizens of the State. 

All waters on such reservations may be used for domestic, miuing, milling, or irrigation purposes, under the 
laws of the State wherein such forest reservations are situated, or under the laws of the United States and the rules 
and regulations established thereunder. 

Upon the recommendation of the Secretary of the Interior, with the approval of the President, after sixty 
days' notice thereof, published in two papers of general circulation in the State or Territory wherein any forest 
reservation is situated, and near the said reservation, any public lands embraced within the limits of any forest 
reservation which, after due examination by personal inspection of a competent person appointed for that purpose 
by the Secretary of the Interior, shall be found better adapted for mining or for agricultural purposes than for 
forest usage, may be restored to the public domain. And any mineral lands in any forest reservation which have 
been or which may be shown to be such, and subject to entry under the existing mining laws of the United States 
and the rules and regulations apjilying thereto, shall continue to be subject to such location and entry, notwith- 
standing any provisions herein contained. 

The President is hereby authorized at any time to modify any Executive order that has been or may hereafter 
be made establishiug any forest reserve, and by such modification may reduce the area or change the boundary lines 
of such reserve, or may vacate altogether any order creating such reserve. 

AN ACT making appropriations for sundry civil expenses, etc., approved June 30, 1898. 

Protection and administration of forest reserves. — To meet the expenses of executing the provisions of the sundry 
civil act approved June fourth, eighteen hundred and ninety-seven, for the care and administration of the forest 
reserves, to meet the expenses of forest inspectors and assistants, and for the employment of foresters and other 
emergency help in the prevention and extinguishment of forest fires, and for advertising dead and matured trees for 
sale within such reservations : Provided, That forestry agents and supervisors, and other persons to be designated liy 
the Secretary of the Interior for duty under this appropriation, shall be allowed per diem, subject to such rules and 
regulations as he may prescribe, in lieu of subsistence, at a rate not osceeding three dollars per day each, and actual 
necessary expenses for transportation, seventy-five tlionsand dollars. 

That section eight of an act entitled "An act to repeal the timber-culture laws, and for other purposes," 
approved March third, eighteen hundred and ninety-one, be, and the same is hereby, amended as follows : That it 
shall be lawful for the Secretary of the Interior to grant permits, under the provisions of the eighth section of tlie 
act of March third, eighteen hundred and ninety-one, to citizens of Idaho and Wyoming to cut timber iu the State 
of Wyoming west of the continental divide, on tlie Snake River aud its tributaries, to the boundary line of Idaho, 
for agricultural, mining, or other domestic purposes, and to remove the tiuiber so cut to the State of Idaho. 



D. FOREST POLICIES OF EUROPEAN NATIONS. 



The conditions whicli a handred years ago influenced the policies of the European nations— 
namely, the necessity of looking out for continuance of domestic supplies— are at present well 
overcome, provided the supplies in other countries last and can readily be secured. 

In regard to supplies, the European countries may be grouped into those which produce as 
yet more than they need, namely : Russia, Austria-Hungary, Servia, Sweden and Norway, which 
are, therefore, exporters; those which produce large quantities of forest products, but not 
sufacient for their needs, Germany, France, Switzerland; those which depend largely or almost 
entirely on importation, England, Belgium, Holland, Denmark, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, 
and Turkey. 

Nevertheless, at least in Germany, the desirability of fostering home production and advan- 
tages of a general economic character, especially employment of labor in winter time which the 
forest industries insure, have still an influence upon the policy of the Government, even with 
supply forests. 

In this way may be explained the protective tariff against wood imports, which was enacted 
in 1885 and increased later, especially to keep out competition from the virgin woods of Austria- 
Hungary and Russia. The last revision of 1892 has for its object not the discouragement of 
importation, but the inducing of importation of only raw material to be manufactured at home, by 
imposing a duty five times as high on lumber as on logs. 

The result, however, has been more satisfactory from the revenue point of view than in 
protecting the forest owuers, the Austro-Hungariau railroads eaualizing the duty charges by 
lower rates. 

The existence of a State forest policy, such as most European States have adopted, is based 
at present mainly on the protective value of the forest cover and the recognition that private 
interest can not be expected, or is insufflcent, to give proper regard to this feature in its treatment 
of the forest areas. 

It can not be said that a finally settled policy exists in any of the States, not even in Germany, 
but only that it is in a highly advanced stage of formation, with the tendency of increasing 
governmental activity and interference. 

Such a policy is expressed in various ways, State ownership. State supervision of communal 
and private forests, restriction of clearing and enforced reforesting, establishment of forestry 
schools, and experiment stations. 

State ownership of forest areas, which iu the beginning of the century began to decrease 
under the influence and misapplication of Adam Smith's teaching, and the doctrine of individual 
rights urged to its extreme consequences, is now on the increase in most States. Thus France, 
which during and after the Revolution, took the lead in this dismemberment of the forest property 
which the monarchy had maintained, sold during the years 1791 to 1795 nearly one-half of the 
State forests and continued to reduce the area until there remained in 1871 but one-flfth of the 
original holdings. Since then a reversal of the policy has been in practice, the area not only 
being increased but financial assistance in reforesting on a large scale being given to private 
owners and communities. 

Thus in the budget for 1895 of $2,500,000 appropriated for the State forest department, 
$1,000,000 is set aside for the extension of the State forests and necessary improvement of the 
existing ones. The State owns about 2,600,000 acres— somewhat over 10 ver cent of the total 

205 



206 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

area. In addition the private property is coutrolled entirely as regards clearing; tliat is to 
say, no clearing may be doue without notice to the Government authorities, or, in the mountain 
districts, without sanction of the same. 

This control is especially stringent with reference to the holdings of village and city corpora- 
tions, which represent over 27 per cent of the forest area. These must submit their plans of 
management to the State forest department for approval, and are debarred from dividing their 
property, thus insuring coutiuuity of ownership and conservative management. 

The necessity for such control became apparent in the first quarter of the century, when as a 
consequence of reckless denudation in the Ali)s, Ceveuues, and Pyrenees, whole communities 
became impoverished by the torrents which destroyed and silted over the fertile lands at the foot 
of the mountains. Some 8,000,000 acres of mountain forest in twenty departments were involved 
in these disastrous consequences of forest destruction, with 1,000,000 acres of once fertile soil made 
useless. The work of recovery was begun under laws of 18G0 and 18G4, and a revised law, the 
reboisement act, of 1882. Under this law the State buys and recuperates the land, or else forces 
communities or ijrivate owners to do so with financial aid from the Government. 

Since the ojieration of this law the State has speut in purchases of worn out lands and in works 
to check the torrents and in reforesting, nearly $12,000,000, not including subventions to commu- 
nities and x^rivate owners. It is estimated that $28,000,000 more will have to be expended before 
the area which the State does or is to possess, some 800,000 acres in all, will be restored. 

A forestry school at Nancy educates the officers, and is among the best on the Continent. 

England, in the home country, has had little need of a forest policy on account of its insular 
position and topography. Of the 3,000,000 acres of woodlands, mostly devoted to purposes of the 
chase or parks, 2 jjer cent are State forests, and so encumbered with rights of adjoining commoners 
as ijasture or for wood supplies that no rational management is possible. But in India there is 
a well organized forest administration with a very extensive area, namely, 00,000 square miles 
reserved and 34,590 square miles protected and iinder active control of the Government. The 
organization of the forestry service was begun in 1865 by German foresters. (See pages 259-263.) 
At present special schools of forestry, one in England and one in India, supply the technical 
education of the officers. 

Italy has long suffered from the effects of forest devastation by droughts and floods, but the 
Government was always too weak to secure effective remedies. The State owns only 1.6 per cent 
of 116,000 acres of forest, the balance of 7,000,000 acres belonging to communities and corporations 
or individuals. Yet by the laws of 1877, revised in 1888, the policy of State interference is clearly 
defined. Excellent though the law appears on paper, it has i^robably not yielded any significant 
results or even general enforcement, owing to the financial disability of the Government. This 
law placed nearly half the area not owned by the State under Government control, namely, all 
woods and lands cleared of wood on the summits and slopes of the mountains above the upper 
limit of chestnut growth, and those that from their character and situation may, in consequence 
of being cleared or tilled, give rise to landslips, caving, or gullying, avalanches and snowslides, 
and may to the ijublic injury interfere with water courses or change the character of the soil or 
injure local hygienic conditions. Government aid is to be extended where reforestation appeared 
necessary. 

Of the 76,000 acres which required immediate reforestation, for reasons of public safety, only 
22,000 were reforested in twenty years up to 1886, the Government contributing $85,000 toward 
the cost. 

In the revised law of 1888, as a result of the vast experiences preceding, a further elabora- 
tion of the same plan was attempted by creating further authority to enforce action. It is now 
estimated that 534,000 acres need reforesting at a cost of $12,000,000, of which two-fifths is to be 
contributed by the State. 

Expropriation proceedings may be instituted where owners refuse to reforest, with permission 
to reclaim in five years by iDaying the cost of work, with interest, incurred by the State. 

In Austria, the disastrous consequences which the reckless devastation and abuse of her 
mountain forests by their owners has brought upon whole communities have led to a more stringent 
and general supervision of private and communal forests than anywhere else. Since 1883 there 



EUROPEAN FOREST POLICIES. 207 

has been also in progress a work of recuperation similar to tlie French reboisement work, in which, 
up to 1894, nearly $1,500,000 had been spent, the State contributing variously from 25 to 100 per 
cent toward covering the expense. A fully organized forest department manages the Government 
forests, 2,000,000 acres, which are gradually being increased by purchase, or 73 i>er cent of the 
whole forest area. One higher, and several lower schools provide instruction. 

Some 150,000 acres of waste land were reforested by the State between 1881 and 1890. 

Even Eussia, although one of the export countries, with $30,000,000 to $35,000,000, and 
largely in the pioneering stage, has a well-devised forest policy, developed within the last thirty 
or fifty years, which consists not only in maintaining Government forests to the extent of about 
280,000,000 acres under tolerably good management, and 30,000,000 of Grown forests, personal 
property of the royal family, but in restricting lirivate owners from abuse of their property, where 
the public welfare demands, while in the prairie country in southern Russia large amounts of 
money are spent by the Government in planting forests and assisting private enterprise in the 
same direction. 

With the Siberian forests and jhose of the Caucasus added, the area of Government forest 
may reach the large figure of 600,000,000 acres, which, though not yet all placed under manage 
ment, is sooner or later to come under the existing forest administration. 

The restrictive policy dates from a very elaborate law passed in 1888, in which the democratic 
spirit in the constitution of the body controlling the exercise of property rights is interesting. 
The approval of working plans or of clearings on private property is jilaced in the hands of a 
specially constituted committee for each county, which includes the governor, justices of the 
peace, the county council, and several forest owners, and the Government itself must secure the 
approval of this committee for its operations. 

By this law, throughout European Eussia,- woodlands may be declared " preserved forests" on 
the following grounds : That they serve as preventives against the formation of barrens and 
shifting sands, and the encroachment of dunes along seashores or the banks of navigable rivers, 
canals, and artificial reservoirs ; that they protect from sand drifts towns, villages, cultivated 
land, roads, and the like; that they protect the banks of navigable rivers and canals from land- 
slides, overflows, or injuries by the breaking up or passing of ice; when growing on hills, steep 
places, or declines, they serve to check land or rock slides, avalanches, and sudden freshets, 
and all forests that protect the springs and sources of the rivers and their tributaries. 

In these preserved forests, working plans are made at the expense of the Government, and 
in the unpreserved forests at the expense of the owners. In each province the Government 
maintains an inspector-instructor, whose duty is to advise those who apply to him in forest 
matters, and as far as i^ossible he is to superintend on the spot all forestry work. The Government 
has established nurseries from which private owners can obtain young trees and seeds at a low 
price. The owners are allowed to employ as managers of their forests the trained ofQcials of the 
forest administration, while medals and prizes are given yearly to ijrivate owners for excellency 
in forest culture and management. Two higher and thirteen lower schools of forestry are also 
maintained by the Government. 

The country which has attracted most interest in all matters pertaining to forestry, because 
the science of forestry is there most developed and most closely applied, is Germany. The policies 
prevailing and methods employed are fully described in another part of this report. 

It jnay, however, be interesting to trace somewhat the historical development both of the 
application of forestry principles and of the existing forest policy. 

Although as early as Charlemagne's time a conception of the value of a forest as a piece of 
property was well recognized by that monarch himself, and crude prescriptions as to the projjer 
use of the same are extant, a general really well-ordered system of forest management hardly 
existed until the beginning of the eighteenth century. Sporadically, to be sure, systematic care 
and regular methods of reproduction were employed even in the thirteenth and fourteenth centu- 
ries. \ 

To understand the development of the present forest policy in Germany one must study the 
peculiar conditions and development of property rights that led to it. Germany was originally 
settled by warriors, who had to keep together in order to resist enemies and conquerors on every 



208 FOKESTKY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

side, ready to move and cbauge domicile at any moment. The soil which was conquered, conse- 
quently, was not divided, but owned as a whole, managed by and for the whole tribe. It is only 
in the sixth century that signs of private property in woodlands are discernible. Before that 
time it was res nullius, or, as it is expressed in legal manuscripts, " quia non res possessa seel de 
ligno agitur.^^ 

Wood being plentiful and yet needed by everybody, it appeared a crime only to take wood 
which had been already appropriated or bore unmistakable signs of ownership, such as being 
cut or shaped. But severe punishments were in earliest times inflicted for incendiarism and 
for damage to mast trees, since the seed mast for the fattening of swine was one of the most 
important uses of the forest. 

There was not much need of iiartition, especially oi the forests. The community, to which all 
the land of a distinct belonged, and which was managed by and for the aggregate of society, was 
called the "mark," a communistic institution of most express character, and every "marker" or 
shareholder was allowed to get the timber needed by him for his own use without control. 

This early communal ownership of forest land undoubtedly explains the fact that even to-day 
over 5 per cent of the forest is owned by communities, cities, or villages. Gradually the necessity 
of regulating the cutting of the wood became apparent, as the best timber in the neighborhood 
of the villages was removed, and we find quite early mention of oflicials whose duty it was to 
superintend the felling, removing, and even the use of the timber. By and by even the firewood 
was designated by oflicials. Manufacturers received their material free of charge, but only as 
much as was needed to supply the community. Occasionally there were rules that each man had 
to plant trees in proportion to his consumption. So that by the end of the fourteenth century 
quite a system of forest management had been developed. 

Meanwhile the Eoman doctrine of the regal right to the chase had also begun to assert itself 
by the declaration of certain districts as ban forests or simply forests, in which the King exclu- 
sively reserved the right to chase. The Kings again invested their trusted followers and nobles 
with this right to the chase in various districts, thus gradually dividing the control of the same. 

While at first these reservations did not bring with them restrictions in the use of the timber 
or pasture or other products of the forest, gradually these uses were construed as exercised only 
by permission, and the former owners were reduced to holders of " servitudes," i. e., holders of 
certain rights in the substance of the forests. The fact that the feudal lords frequently became 
the obermarkers or burgomasters of the mark community lent color of right to these restrictions 
in the use of the property, besides the assertion that the needs of maintaining the chase required 
and entitled them to such control. 

It is interesting to note that through all the changes of centuries, these so-called servitudes 
have lasted until our own times, much changed, to be sure, in character, and extending by new 
grants especially to churches, charitable institutions, cities, villages, and colonists. Such rights, 
to satisfy certain requirements from the substance of an adjoining forest, were then usually 
attached to the ownership of certain farms, and involved counter service of some sort, usually in 
hauling Avood or doing other fores.try work. 

Sometimes when the lordly owners of large properties exercised only certain i^rerogatives to 
show ownership, these, in the course of time, lapsed into the character of servitudes, the forest 
itself by occupation becoming the property of the community. With changes in value and other 
changes in economic conditions, these rights often became disadvantageous and more and more 
cumbersome to either or both sides. 

The present century has been occupied with the difficult labor of relieving this state of things 
and making equitable arrangements by which the forests become unencumbered and the bene- 
ficiaries properly satisfied by cession of land or a money equivalent. 

This chapter of the history of forest -policy is especially interesting to us as a tendency, nay 
the practice exists of granting such rights to the public timber to the settlers in the Western 
States, which by and by will be just as diflcult to eradicate when rational forest management is 
to be Inaugurated. 

Over 5,000,000 marks and several hundred acres of land were required in the little Kingdom 
of Saxony to get rid of the servitudes in the State forests. The Prussian budget contains still an 



EUROPEAN FOREST POLICIES. 209 

item of 1,000,000 marks annually for this purpose; and althougli over 22,000,000 marks and nearly 
20,000 acres of laud have been spent for this purpose in Bavaria, the State forests there are still 
most heavily burdened with servitudes. 

The doctrine of the regal right to the chase, as we have seen, led to the gradual assertion of 
all property rights to the forest itself, or at least to the exclusive control of its use. This right 
found exj)ression in a legion of forest ordinances iu the lifteenth and sixteenth centuries, which 
aimed at the conservation and improvement of forest areas, abounding in detailed technical 
precepts. 

At first treating the private interest with some consideration, they gradually more and more 
restrict free management. Prohibition of absolute clearing, or at least only with the permission 
of the government; the command to reforest cleared and waste places; to foster the young 
growth; limiting the quality of timber to be felled; preventing devastation by prohibiting the 
pasturing of cattle in the young growth, of the removal of the forest litter, of pitch gathering, 
etc., were among these prescriptions, and many others, such as prescribing the manner and time 
of felling, the division into regular felling lots, determination as to what is to be cut as firewood 
and what as building timber. Then, with the increasing fear of a reduction in supplies, followed 
prohibitions against exportation, against sale of woodlands to foreigners, against speculation in 
timber by providing schedules of prices, and from time to time entire exclusion from sale of some 
valuable species. Even the consumer was restricted and controlled in the manner of using wood. 

In mediaeval times, besides private forests of the King and lords, only the communal forest 
(allmende) was known, and small holdings of farmers were comparatively rare until the end of 
the Middle Ages. 

The thirty years' war and the following troublesome times gave rise not only to extended 
forest devastation, but also to many changes in ownership of woodlands. With the growing 
instability of communal organization of the " mark," division of the common property took place, 
and thus iirivate ownership by small farmers came about, reducing the communal holdings. 
Colonization schemes by holders of large estates also led to dismemberment. 

A very large amount of the mark forest came into possesssion of the princes and noblemen 
by force, and later possessions of the princes were increased by the secularization of the property 
of monasteries and churches. Until the end of the last century these domains belonged to the 
family of the prince, just as the right to the throne or the governing of the little dukedom, 
contributing toward the expenses of government. 

But when, as a consequence of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic wars and 
subsequent changes, the conception of the rights of the governing classes changed, and iu some 
States like Prussia much earlier, a division of domains into those which belonged to the prince's 
family as private property and those which were State forests was effected, so that now the 
following classes of forest jjroperty may be distinguished : 

(1) State forests, which are administered by the government for the benefit of the common- 
wealth, each State of the Confederation owning and administering its own. 

(2) Imperial forests, belonging to and administered for the benefit of the Empire, situated in 
the newly acquired province of Alsace-Lorraine. 

(3) Crown forests (Eidei-commiss), the ownership of which remains in the reigning family, 
administered by State government, but the revenues of which are in part applicable to government 
expenses. 

(4) Priucely domains, which are the exclusive and private property of the ijrince. 

(5) Communal forests possessed by and administered by and for the benefit of village and 
city communities, or even provinces as a whole. 

(6) Association forests, the owners of the old " mark " forests, possessed by a number of 
owners, the State sometimes being part owner. 

(7) Institute and corporation, school or bequest forests, which belong to incorporated institu- 
tions, like churches, hospitals, and other charitable institutions. 

(8) Private forests, of larger or smaller extent, the exclusive property of private owners. 
The proportions of these classes of property which existed in the beginning of the century 

H. Doc. 181 11 



210 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

experienced considerable changes by the sale of State forests, the sales being due partly to 
financial distress, partly to a mistaken application of Adam Smith's theories, which supposed that 
free competition would lead to a better management and highest development of the forest 
industry as well as of other industries. 

This tendency, however, was checked when the fallacy of the theory became apparent, 
especially with reference to a property that demands conservative treatment and involves such 
time element as we have seen. 

The hopes which were based on the success of individualistic efforts were not realized, and 
although control of private action had been retained by the State authorities, this could not 
always be exercised, and the necessity of strengthening the State forest administration became 
apparent. The present tendency, therefore, is not only to maintain the State forests, but to 
extend their area by purchase, mostly of devastated or deforested areas and by exchange for 
agricultural lands from the public domain. Thus, in Prussia, the increase of State forest area has 
been at the rate of 14,000 acres per year since 1S67. 

In districts where small farmers own extensive areas of barrens a consolidation is effected, 
the parcels of remaining forest and the barrens are put together, the State acquires these and 
pays the owners either in money or other property. 

In Prussia, during the decade 1882-1891, 30,000 acres were in this way exchanged for 17,000 
acres, and in addition some 200,000 acres, waste or jjoorly wooded, purchased at an expense of 
$3,500,000, round numbers. During the same decade the reforestation of 80,000 acres of waste 
lands was effected, while nearly 75,000 acres in the State's possession remained to be reforested. 

The annual budget for these reforestations of waste lauds has been $500,000 for several years. 

The area of barrens and poor soils, only fit for forest purposes in Prussia, is estimated at over 
6,000,000 acres. 

The present distribution of the property classes for the whole Empire of the 35,000,000 acres 
of forest is about as follows, varying, to be sure, very considerably in the States of the Confed- 
eration : 

Per cent. 

State and Crown forests (of which the Crown owns less than 2 per cent) 32. 7 

Imperial forests 1 

Communal forests (5,000,000 acres) 15.2 

Association forests 2.5 

Institute forests 1.3 

Private forests 48. 3 

The State and Crown forests are all under well-organized forest administrations, sometimes 
accredited to the minister of finance, sometimes to the minister of agriculture. These yield an 
annual net revenue of from $1 to $5 and $6 per acre of forest area, with a constant increase from 
year to year, which will presently be very greatly advanced when the expenditures for road build- 
ing and other improvements cease. 

In the State management the constant care is not to sacrifice the economic significance of the 
forest to the financial benefits that can be derived, and the amount cut is most conservative. 

The Imperial forests are of course managed in the same spirit as the several State forests. 

While the present communities, villages, towns, and cities are only political corporations, they 
still retain in some cases in part the character of the "mark," which was based upon the holding 
of property. 

The suiDervision which the princes exercised in their capacity of Obermarker or as possessor 
of the right to the chase, remained, although based on other principles, as a function of the State 
when the "mark" communities collapsed, the principles being that the State was bound to protect 
the interest of the eternal juristical person of the community against the present trustees, that it 
had to guard against conflicts between the interest of the individual and that of the community in 
this property, and secure permanency of a piece of property which insured a continued and 
increasing revenue. The principle upon which the control of these communal holdings rests is 
then mainly a fiscal one. 

The degree of control and restriction varies in different localities. Sale and partition and 



EUROPEAN FOREST POLICIES. 211 

clearing can mostly take i^lace only by permission of the State authorities, and is usually discoun- 
tenanced except for good reasons (too much woods on agricultural soil). 

With reference to 5.6 i^er cent of communal forest property, this is the only control which is of 
a fiscal nature. The rest is more or less closely influenced in the character of its management, 
either by control of its technicalities or else by direct management and admiuisti'ation on the part 
of the Government. 

Technical control makes it necessary that the plans of management be submitted to the 
Government for sanction, and that proper officers or managers be employed who are inspected by 
Government foresters. This is the most general system, under which 49.4 per cent of communal 
forests are managed (as well in Austria and Switzerland), giving greatest latitude and yet securing 
conservative management. To facilitate the management of smaller areas several properties may 
be combined under one manager, or else a neighboring government or jirivate forest manager 
may be employed to look after the technical management. 

Where direct management by the State exists, the State performs the management by its own 
agents with only advisory power of the communal authorities, a system under which 45 per cent 
of the communal forests are managed (also in Austria and France). 

In Prussia this system exists only in a few localities, but it is since 1S76 provided as penalty 
for improper management or attempts to avoid the State control. 

This system curtails, to be sure, communal liberty and possibly financial results to some 
extent, but it has proved itself the most satisfactory from the standpoint of conservative forest 
management and iu the interest of present and future welfare of the communities. Its extension 
is planned both iu Prussia and Bavaria. 

Sometimes the State contributes toward the cost of the management on the ground that 
it is carried on iu the interests of tlie whole commonwealth. A voluntary cooperation of the 
communities with the State in regard to forest protection by the State forest guards is in 
vogue iu Wurttemberg, and also in France. Institute forests are usually under similar control as 
the communities. 

The control of private forests is extremely varying. A direct State control of some kind is 
exercised over only 29.7 per cent of the private forest, or 14.6 jier cent of the total area, mostly 
ill southern and middle Germany, while 70.3 per cent of the private jiroperty, or 34.5 per cent of 
the total forest area, is entirely without control, a condition existing iu Prussia and Saxony. 

As far as the large land owners are concerned, this has mostly been of no detriment, as they 
are usually taking advantage of rational management; but the small ijeasant holdings show the 
bad effects of this liberty quite frequently in the devastated condition of the woods and waste 
places. As a recent writer puts it: "The freedom of private forest ownership has in Prussia led 
not only to forest dismemberment and devastation, but often to change of forest into field. On 
good soils the result is something j)ermanently better; on medium and poor soils the result has 
been that agriculture, after the fertility stored up by the forest has been exhausted, has become 
unprofitable. These soils are now utterly ruined and must be reforested as waste lauds. 

Need, avarice, speculation, and penury were developed into forest destruction when in the 
beginning of this century the iudividualistic theories led to an abandonment of the control 
hitherto existing, and it was found out that the principle so salutary in agriculture and other 
industries was a fateful error in forestry. 

Where control of private forests exists it takes various forms : 

(1) Prohibition to clear permanently or at least necessity to ask licrmission exists in Wurttem- 
berg, Baden, and partially in Bavaria. (Protection of adjoiners.) 

(2) Enforced reforestation within a given time after removal of the old growth and occasionally 
oil open ground where public safety requires. 

(3) Prohibition of devastation or deterioration — a vague and undefinable j^rovision. 

(4) Definite prescrij)tion as to the manner of cutting (especially on sand dunes, river 
courses, etc.). 

(5) Enforced employment of qualified personnel. 

In addition to all these measures of restriction, control and police, and enforcement, there 



212 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

should be ineutioned tlie measures of encouragement, which consist in the opportunity for the 
education of foresters, dissemination of information, and iiuancial aid. 

In the latter respect Prussia, in the decade 1882-1892, contributed for reforestation of waste 
places by private owners $33.5,000, besides large amounts of seeds and plants from its State 
nurseries. Instruction in forestry to farmers is given at twelve agricultural schools in Prussia. 
In nearly all States permission is given to Government oflQcers for compensation, to undertake at 
the request of the owners the regulation or even management of private forest property. 

For the education of the lower class of foresters there may be some twenty special schools in 
Germany and Austria, while for the higher classes not only ten special forest academies are 
available, but three universities and two polytechnic institutes have forestry faculties. 

Besides, all States have lately inaugurated systems of forest experiment stations; and 
forestry associations, not of propagandists but of practitioners, abound. As a result of all this 
activity iu forestry science and practice, not less than twenty forestry journals in the German 
language exist, besides many official and association reports and a most prolitic book literature. 



E FOREST CONDITIONS AND METHODS OF FOREST MANAGE- 
MENT IN GERMANY, WITH A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF FOREST 
MANAGEMENT IN BRITISH INDIA. 



FoEEST Area, Extent and Ownership. 

Germany, as constituted at present, has an area of 133,000,000 acres-about one-fifteenth of 
oar countrv-a population of about 17,000,000, or less than 3 acres per capita, or only one-tenth ol 
our per capita average. Its forests cover 34,700,000 acres, or 2G per cent of the entire land surface. 
A lar-e portion of the forests cover the poorer, chiefly sandy, soils of the North German plains, or 
occupy the rough, hilly, and steeper mountain lands of the numerous smaller mountain systems, 
aud a small portion of the northern slopes of the Alps. They are distributed rather evenly over 
the entire Empire. Prussia, with 06 per cent of the entire land area, possesses 23.o per cent ot 
forest land, while the rest of the larger States have each over 30 per cent, except small, indus- 
trious Saxony, which lies intermediate, with 27 per cent of forest cover. 

Gonsidering the smaller districts of Prussia, Bavaria, and the smaller States, it is found that 
out of 64 provinces and districts, 18 have less than 20 per cent forest; 18 have from 20 to 29 per 
cent; 23, including the greater part of the country, have from 30 to 39 per cent, and o of the 
smaller districts have from 40 to 44 per cent of forest. The districts containing less than .0 per 
cent of forests are, as might be supposed, n.ostly fertile farming districts in which the plow land 
forms over 40 per cent of the land, but tbey also include neglected districts like Hanover and 
Luneburg, where a former shortsighted, selfish, and improvident policy has led to the deforesta- 
tion of poor, flat lands, which have gradually been transformed into heaths, where an accumulation 
of boo-iron ore, and other obstacles render the attempts at reforestation difficult, expensive, and 
unsattsfactory. Left to forests, these same lands, which now are unable to furnish support to 
farmers or to produce a revenue to their owner, could easily pay the taxes and interest on a 
capital of $50 to $100 per acre. To reforest them now costs $10 to $50 per acre and requires a 
lifetime before any returns can be expected. ,, ^ ^ ■ „ i i 

Since it is one of the common claims in the eastern United States that the land is all needed 
for agriculture, and since it will be conceded that in hardly any State east of the Mississippi 
much land necessarily remains untilled, it may be of interest to note that in this densely populated 
Empire of Germany out of 67 districts and provinces the plow land forms less than _0 per cent in 
4 districts, 30 to 39 per cent in 10 districts, 40 to 49 per cent in 26 districts, 50 to 59 per cent 
in '>0 districts, and 60 to 09 per cent in 7 districts, in spite of the fact that a large part ot the 
forests are in private hands and would be cleared if the owners saw fit to do so. 

In our country the total area in farms is only 18 per cent at present. , ^, , „ w- 

Of the total of 34,700,000 acres of forest land (an area about as large as the State ot Wis- 
consin) 32.7 per cent belongs to the several States as State property; 19 percent belongs to 
villages, towns, and other corporations, and 50 per cent to private owners, a considerable part of 
this being in large estates of the nobility. ^^^ 



214 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS V. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



The following figures show these ownership relations for the eight larger States, which 
involve 96 per cent of the total area of the empire : 





Population. 


Total land 
surface. 


Forests. 


state. 


Total. 


Per cent. 


Owned by the — 




State. 


Corpora 
tions. 


Private. 


1 


Millions. 
47 


21 acres. 
133, 392 


M acres. 
34, 750 


100 


M acres. 
11, 360 


M acres. 
6,710 


M acres. 
16, 680 








29.9 
5,6 
1.9 
3.2 
1.6 
1.5 
.9 


88. 000 
18, 800 
4,800 
3,700 
3,730 
3,600 
1,900 
3,290 


20, 240 
6,200 
1,470 
1,020 
1,360 
1,100 
590 
600 


58 

18 
4.2 
3 
4 

3.1 
1.7 
1.6 


6.100 
2,160 
480 
430 
237 
360 
170 
255 


3,210 
890 
470 

60 
667 
520 
220 

85 


10, 900 




3,150 




530 




630 




447 




220 




200 




220 







This same relation, expressed in per cent, becomes: 



Forest 
cover of 
total area. 



Forests oivncd by — 



Germany 

Prussia 

Bavaria 

Wurttemberg 

Saxony 

Baden 

Alsace-Lorraine 

Hesse 

Meclilenburg-Schwerin 



The condition of the forests to a great extent depends on the degree of supervision or control 
exercised by the State authorities. It is best in all cases in the State forests, is equally good in 
the corporation forests under State control, and is poorest in the private forests, particularly those 
of small holders. 

STATE CONTROL. 

The amount of State influence or control varies in the several States, and varies in some cases 
even in one and the same State for different districts. Of the State forests, without exception, it 
can be said that they are nearly in that form which, according to present knowledge and with 
reasonable effort, is able to produce the greatest quantities of wood material in those dimensions 
and of such kinds as best to satisfy the demands of the markets and at the same time render the 
management as profitable as possible. This does not mean that they are not improving, for as 
forestry knowledge increases and the methods are perfected the results are better. From what 
follows it also appears that all State forests as a whole pay, and pay handsomely, when the low 
intrinsic value of the land on which the forest stocks is considered. 

The control of the corporation forests is perfect only in a few of the smaller States, notably 
Baden, Hesse, and Alsace-Lorraine ; also in some districts in Prussia where the corporation forests 
are managed by the State authorities, the wishes of the villagers or corporate owners being, however, 
always duly considered. In a large portion of Prussia, in Wurttemberg, and in Bavaria the corpora- 
tion provides its own foresters ; but these must be approved, as well as their plans of operations, by 
the State authorities, so that here the management is under strict control of the State, and favora- 
ble forest conditions at least partially assured. In Wurttemberg the corporation is given the choice 
of supplying its own foresters or else joining their forests to those of the State. This has led to 
State management of near 70 per cent of all corporation forests. Only the corporation forests of 
Saxony and those of a small part of Prussia are without any supervision. Of the private forests, 
those of Prussia and Saxony, involving 69 per cent of all private forests of the Empire, are entirely 
free from interference. They can be managed as the owner sees fit, and there is no obstacle to their 
devastation or entire clearing and conversion into field or pasture. The remainder of the private 
forests are under more or less supervision. In most districts a State permit is required before 



GERMAN FOREST CONDITIONS. 215 

land can be cleared. Devastation is an offense, and in some States, notably Wurttemberg, a badly 
neglected forest property may be reforested and n^anaged by State authorities. In nearly all 
States laws exist with regard to so-called " protective forests" i. e., forests needed to prevent floods, 
sand blowing, land and snow slides, or to insure regularity of water supply, etc. Forests proved 
to fall under this category are under special control, but as it is not easy in most cases to pi'ove 
the protective importance of a forest, the laws are difficult to apply and rarely enforced. 

A partial return to the State supervision of private forests has been attempted in Prussia by 
the establishment of a law which renders the owner of a forest liable for the damage which the 
devastation or clearing of his forest property causes to his neighbor. This law, however, like the 
former, is so difScult to apiily, and puts the plaintiff to great expense, so that so far it has not 
been enforced to any extent except where the Government itself is the injured party. 

In the following statement the areas of forest are grouped according to the degree of State 
supervision and manner of management: 

Of the entire 34,700,000 acres of forest land, there are approximately — 

(1) Managed by State authorities as State property, 11,300,000 acres, which is 32.7 per cent. 

(2) Managed by the State authorities, but the property of corporations, villages, towns, etc., 
a little over 2,212,000 acres, which is 6.3 per cent. 

(3) Under strict Government control, the plans of management and the permissible cut having 
to be approved by State authorities (corporation property), 3,875,000 acres, which is 11.1 per cent. 

(4) Under supervision of the State, not only as common property but as special property, 
subject to inspection and, in part, to control of State forest authorities; nearly all private prop- 
erty and partly belonging to large estates, 4,707,000 acres, which is 13.7 per cent. 

(5) Without any Government control or supervision beyond tliat of common property. These 
forests may be divided, sold, cleared, and mismanaged, except under the certain cases before men- 
tioned. Here belong all private forests of Saxony and Prussia and part of the corijoration forests 
of Prussia and all those of Saxony, 11,490,000 acres, which is 33 per cent. 

CHARACTER OF FOREST GROWTH. 

The greater i^art of the German forests is stocked with conifers, chiefly pine (the Scotch pine, 
a pine siimilar to our red or Norway pine) and spruce. The pine ])revails on the sandy areas of 
North Germany, and occui)ies about 60 per cent of the Prussian and 30 per cent of the Bavarian 
forests. The siiruce is the chief conifer and principal timber tree of Saxony and southern Ger- 
many. The hard woods, chiefly beech, some oaks, with small amounts of ash, maple, elm, etc., 
are most abuiulant in the valley of the Rhine, Lorraine, and Wurttemberg, but good beech forests 
occur in nearly all parts of the Empire. 

The greater part of all forests of Germany are " timber forests," where the trees are cut at an 
age of over 80 years (generally 90 to 120 years).' Timber forests form over 90 per cent of the State 
forests of all larger States, are the prevalent form in t'he forests of corporations, and are common 
in those of private owners. The other two common forms, the "coppice" and "standard coppice," 
where the trees are cut at an age of less than 30 years (usually 15 to 25 years, and in the standard 
coppice a small part only is allowed to reach better age and size), are most abundant in private 
forests and to a less extent in corporation properties, but form only a very small part of the 
State woods, where they are steadily diminishing in importance. The coppice is a hard-wood 
forest, depends on the sprouting capacity of the trees, and furnishes small poles, firewood, and 
tanbark. Both forms of the coppice and standard coppice require a smaller amount of standing 
timber, furnish quicker returns, but do not furnish those kinds of products which the market 
demands in largest quantity. 

In the timber forest the trees of any particular tract or division are supposed to be of about 
the same age, differing not over 20 years in the extreme, so that for a rotation of one hundred 
years, i. e., a management where the crop is harvested at the age of 100 years, one-flfth, or 20 per 
cent, of all the forests should be 1 to 20 years old; another 20 per cent, 21 to 40 years old, etc. 
In spite of the great difficulty of attaining this regularity of distribution in the forests of an 
entire State without disturbing the yearly cut of timber, this regularity is already attained very 
closely In most of the State forests. Thus in the State forests of Prussia, of the total area of 

' For fuller description of the systems of management, see pp. 225 to 259 of this report. 



216 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS II. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 



timber forest (90 i^er cent of all State forests), tlie age of the timber is as follows: On 13 per cent 
of the area, over 100 years old ; on 13 per cent, 81 to 100 years old; on 14 per cent, 61 to 80 years 
old; on 18 per cent, 11 to 60 years old; on 19 per cent, 21 to 40 years old; on 19 per cent, 
1 to 20 years old, and about 4 per cent are clearings, where the timber lias been cut lately. In all 
forests the ground is at once reforested, if cut clean, or else the cut is so arranged that a natural 
seeding goes on as the harvest progresses, this latter consisting of several fellings, separated by a 
number of years. 

EXPLOITATION. 

The cutting in all State forests is generally done by the cord or by the cubic foot (really by 
the stere, festmeter, or cubic meter). In rare cases the timber is cut and moved by the purchaser; 
nearly always it is cut and moved by the forest authorities and sold and delivered at the main 
roads. The logs are not cut to uniform lengths, but care is had in the forest to cut to best advan- 
tage. Long, straight timbers are left long, if possible, and sold as long, round, or sometimes hewn 
pieces; saw timber is cut in even lengths; poles are cut to suit local markets; wagon and coopers' 
stock, etc., are cut to suit, or left in round timbers, while pulp wood, cord wood, and branches, and 
sometimes even stumps, are worked np in customary manner, graded, and sold by the cord 
(really " stere" or "raummeter"). 

In the conversion of the logs into lumber there are more complications in dimensions than 
with us. The measui-e is generally the meter and centimeter; edging is not done by even numbers. 
Lumber is sold by cubic measure, and the handling is thus generally not so sim]3le as in America. 

As far as practical means and methods in felling and logging operations go we can learn but 
little from Germany, except that more care in the utilization of the timber would be profitable 
here as it is abroad. Yet it may be of interest, and not entirely devoid of suggestive value, to 
brielly recite the practices followed in most Government forests. 

The location of fellings for the year having been determined with due consideration, the 
rangers engage and control, under supervision of the district manager, the crew of wood choppers 
under a foreman, who are mostly men living in the neighborhood of the range or district and 
accustomed to all kinds of forest work.' A contract, which contains conditions, regulations, and 
a scale of prices, is made with them, which they sign. The men are paid by the job, the prices 
per unit differing, of course, in different localities and being graded according to the kinds of 
timber, size, etc. 

To cite one example we may take the schedule prices paid at the forest belonging to the city 
of Goslar, as this will interest us farther on. There are 40 men nearly permanently employed 
either in wood chopping, planting, or otherwise, and their average earnings during three years 
have been about SO cents per working day. The prices for cutting spruce, including moving to 
roads and barking, and the average prices obtained for ten years were as follows: 



Cost of cuttiog. 



Saw timber, above 5 inclies in diameter (5 classes), 85 cents per 100 cubic feet. 

Lon<i:iioles (3 claasea). from 84 cents to $1.68 per 100 cubic feet 

Small poles (4 classes), from $1.37 to $3.07 per 100 cubic feet 

Firewood, split, 711 cents to $1 per cord 

Firewood, bnisli, $1. 10 per cord 



Average price ob- 
tained in tbe 
woods. 



In Prussia the average cost of lumbering (wood cutting and bringing to roads) for all kinds 
and dimensions is 65 cents per 100 cubic feet; that is to say, the wood-choppers' bill on the 
300,000,000 solid cubic feet of wood harvested annually in the Prussian Government forests 
amounts to $1,950,000. It will appear from the prices for wood cited that often the harvesting is 
more expensive than the iirice obtained, as, for instance, for brushwood, which will hardly sell for 
half the cost of cutting, but its removal is necessary from cultural considerations. The wood 
choijpers are also sometimes expected to move the cordwood at least to the neighboring roads, so 
as to obviate the driving of teams through the woods or young growth. 



' In the census of Germany for 1881-82 there were reported as engaged in forestry, hunting, and fishing 384,637 
persons. Unfortunately, no division of the three occupations was made. 



GERMAN FOREST MANAGEMENT. 



217 



If the felling is to be a clearing, a strix) is assigned to each gang of 3 men, 1 with an ax and 2 
with saws (felling with the saw, of course, is the rule) ; if a regeneration cutting or tliinuing, tbe 
trees to be taken are carefully selected by the ranger or manager and marked with a marking 
hammer. As a rule, all fellings are done during winter, and all trees, except in the coppice and 
small poles, are felled with the saw close to the ground. In the pineries of the North German 
plain, where the root wood is salable, they are even dug out and then sawed off close to the root, 
thus saving a good piece of log timber, which in Saxony increases the wood value of the harvest 
by fully 3 per cent. Which parts of the log are to be cut into firewood and which into lumber 
wood or special timbers, and the length of the same according to the best use that can be made 
of the stick, are determined by the foreman, or in valuable timber by the ranger or manager 
himself. A scale of sizes and classes of timber (sortimeut) exists; in general, all wood over 3 
inches diameter is called Derbholz (coarse wood or lumber wood), all below 3 inches is brushwood 
(Keisholz), with which root wood (Stockholz) is classed. These last two grades are used as fire- 
wood, with which is also classed body wood or split wood (Scheitholz), split from pieces over 6 
inches diameter at the small end, and round billet wood (Kniippelholz) of 3 to 6 inches diameter. 

The wood to be used in the arts, called timber wood (Nutzholz), may appear either in bolts, 
corded, or iu logs. The diameter measurement of logs is made by the ranger, with calipers, at 
the middle of the log. Every cord and every log is numbered and the diameter and length noted 
on the log, and a list prepared in which the cubic contents are calculated. From this list the 
manager checks off the result of the felling, marking each piece or cord with the marking hammer, 
and after advertisement sells at public auction, in the woods or at some public place, the single 
pieces or cords to the highest bidder over and above the Government rate, which for the different 
grades is established every three years on the basis of, but below current market prices. The 
sale of logs is made per cubic foot, and the size of the log influeuces the rate or price, heavier logs 
being disjiroportionately higher iu price. 



PRICE OP WOOD IN THE FOREST. 

During the years 1884-1887 the following prices were obtained by the Prussian forest adminis- 
tration for wood in the foi'est. This is practically for stumpage, cut and marked, the buyer hauling 

it from the woods: 

Price per 100 cuMcfeet of toood in Prussia. 



I contJiining 18-36 cubic feet. 



naple. 



Timber: 

Oak 

Beecb, ash, elm, 

Spruce 

Pine 

Firewood ; 

lieecb, ash, elm, maple . 

Spruce 

Pine 



Lowest 


Highest 


prif;e. 


price. 


$8.50 


$17.30 


5. r,o 


12.25 


4.75 


11.65 


4.75 


11.00 


.75 


1.75 


.40 


1.60 


.45 


1.30 



$12. 00-14. DO 
7. 50- 8. 50 
7. 00- 8. 00 
e. 25- 6. 35 



To gain an idea of the appreciation of the wood product, without reference to kind, size, and 
quality, the following series of figures will serve: 

Average price per 100 cubic feet of wood realised by the Prussian Government for its entire crop {about 300,000,000 

cuhic feet). 



Tear. 
1850. 
1855. 
1860. 
1865. 
1870. 
1875. 
1880. 
1885. 
1890. 



Price. 

$3.27 
3.66 
3.69 
4.71 
4.35 
.5.21 
4.47 
4.30 
4.40 



The highest price for any district was obtained in 1888, being $8.49, while the lowest was 
$2.82. The lower prices in later years are explained by the large importations of wood, especially 
from Hungary, Russia, and Sweden; for while our misinformed forestry friends point to Germany 
as the Eldorado of forestry and proclaim the proportion of forest area there maintained, namely, 



218 FORESTEY INVESTIGATIONS TJ. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 

about 25 per cent, as the ideal and necessary for self-support, and therefore to be maintained also 
in this country, they overlook the iact that Germany imports not less than $60,000,000 worth of 
wood and wood manufactures, mostly of the same kind as grown or manufactured in that country. 
This represents about 10 per cent of the total consumption of Germany, while the importations 
of the United States, which imports from Canada only competing classes of forest products, 
represent not more than 1 per cent of our probable consumption. 

The exports of forest products from Germany, on the other hand, are, to be sure, nearly 50 
per cent of her imports, but they represent mostly manufactures, while in the United States the 
reverse is the case; that is to say, the United States exports twice as much as it imports, and that 
mostly raw material, namely, twice as much in value of raw material as of manufactures. 

The countries from which Germany imports raw or partly manufactured wood are mainly 
Eussia, Austria Hungary, and Sweden, which furnish nearly five-sixths of the total importation, 
while Holland, England, Denmark, Belgium, France, and Switzerland draw about $14,000,000 
worth of raw material from Germany. (See tables further on.) 

To protect the forest owners of Germany, a tariff on importations was imposed in 1885 and 
increased later. Of the effects of this last measure a government report says that as a financial 
measure these tariffs have had excellent success, for the revenue from these duties increased from 
$646,000 in 1880 to $1,732,000 in 1886. But for the forest owner the hoped-for results did not 
become apparent; the Austro-Hungarian railroads and shipping interests lowered their rates so as 
to largely equalize the duty charges. The duties on unmanufactured materials being very low, the 
lack of results in the market of these is still more noticeable. Yet a salutary effect is stated to 
be a prevention of still lower prices, and because otherwise there would have been a lack of useful 
occupation for labor finding remunerative employment in the manufacture of the raw material, 
which, without the increase in duties, would have been imported in manufactured condition. 

PRICE OF MANUFACTURED LUMBER. 

The following samples of schedules for manufactured lumber, always delivered at the railroad 
station, may serve to give an idea to our lumbermen how nearly prices compare with those 
prevalent in our country. We choose those of eastern provinces, which are in sharpest competition 
with Eussian and Hungarian imports : 

Province of Posen. 

Timber (7-8.5 inch square) : 

Pine ■- per cubic foot.. $0.20 to $0.22 

Spruce do.... .16 

Pine (Scotch): 

Plank (2-4 inch), 3 classes .' per 1,000 feet B. M.. 27.00 38.00 

Plank (li-ljinch), 3 classes do 26.00 31.00 

Flooring (1-inch), 3 classes do.... 17.00 22.00 

Flooring (lA-inch), 3 classes do.... 20.00 26.00 

Spruce, rough boards, uot edged (4-5 inch) do 12.00 

Spruce (U4nch), edged, 12-18 feet do.... 20.00 22.00 

Delivered at Berlin. 

Oak (clear), 82 cents per cubic foot, or $68 per 1,000 feet B. M. 

Elm, 78 cents per cubic foot. 

Railroad ties — pine, 45 cents ; oak, 90-95 cents. 

It will be seen that prices for some grades are as high as and higher than in New York. The 
manager is expected to secure at least the government rate, and has discretion in conducting the 
sales to the best advantage of the government. Under certain circumstances sales by contract 
without auctioneering, and, lately, selling on the stump, are permitted. 

The transportation from the woods, as stated before, is usually left to the buyer; rarely does 
the administration float the timber or cord wood out, or carry it to a depot or wood yard to be sold 
from there, or engage in milling or other operations. On the other hand, it has been recognized 
during the last twenty-five years that good roads and other ready means of transportation increase 
the price of the wood disproportionately. A good road system is, therefore, considered the most 
necessary equipment of the administration, and an extension of permanent and movable logging 
railroads is one of the directions of modern improvement. The interesting, important, and 
practical features to us in the logging railroads are their movable character, being divided into 



ROAUS IN GERMAN FORESTS. 



219 



sets of pairs of short (2 to 5 yard) rails (12 to 16 pounds per yard) attached to from two to four 
cross- ties, wood or metal, the light sets weighing 75 to 100 pounds (heavy sets up to KiC pounds), 
so that one workman can readily carry them; the ready connection of sets, one hooking at once 
into the other without separate mechanism, forming a sufficiently satisfactory joint; the simple 
"climbing switch," which is applied on top of the track, permitting ready transfer from side track 
to main track and ready relocation. These roads can be readily laid down without much or any 
substructure and readily relocated. The cost is shown in the following statement: 

For a fully equipped road, 24 to 28 inches width, 6 miles length, for rails and ties $9,000 

For earthwork, if any, and laying 50 to 500 



For rolling stock and aiiparatus. 



Or $2,000 per mile at the highest. 

Upon a basis of 800,000 cubic feet (about 7,000,000 feet B. M.) to be transported, it is calculated 
that the cost of transportation by railroad, stone road, and dirt road will be about as 1 : 2 : 6, the 
cost on the first being about 3 cents per 1,000 feet B. M. per mile as against 18 cents on dirt roads. 

Comparing the cost of construction it is stated that the ratio between corduroy, gravel road 
(13 feet wide), macadam, and movable track is as 1 : 1.25 : 2.35 : 1.17, placing the last among the 
cheapest. 

A most instructive exhibit at the World's Fair, in many ways, especially at the present time, 
since the movement for better roads in this country has begun, was the model of the city forest of 
Goslar, a small town (13,300 inhabitants) in the Harz Mountains, whose citizens, from this piece 
of property, a spruce forest of 7,368 acres extent, derive not- only their pure drinking water, 
healthful enjoyment in hunting, and refreshing coolness in summer, but also a net income, 
amounting in round numbers to $25,000 ($3.40 per acre), toward payment of city taxes. This 
is the result of careful management, which permits an annual cut of 350,000 cubic feet of wood. 
Of this only 50,000 cubic feet goes into firewood, and 46 per cent, or 160,000 cubic feet, is saw 
timber, which sells at 10 to 16 cents per cubic foot; while smaller dimensions, poles, etc., sell all 
the way down to below 4 cents, and firewood at $1.60 for brush to $4.30 for split or round wood 
per cord. Until 1875 the district was without proper roads. By an efibrt of the competent 
manager the city fathers were persuaded to locate and build a rational system of roads on which 
altogether, until 1891, there was spent for building and maintenance about $25,000. The greatest 
interest attaches to the statistics carefully gathered by the district manager, Mr. Keuss, since it 
is always difficult to determine the money value of such an expenditure in dollars and cents. 

The proper location of the roads is the most important feature. The roads are ranked 
according to their importance; the width and manner of finish depend on their rank. Main roads 
are macadamized ; roads of third rank, which are used for occasional hauling of wood, are dirt roads. 

These statistics were exhibited in a neat table, as follows : 

STATISTICS OF ROAD SYSTEM IN FOREST DISTRICT OF CITY OF GOSLAIl (HARZ MOUNTAINS, GERMANY). 

Properly located, graded, and built roads reduce cost of logging and hanling, and advance the price for wood. 
Area, 7,368 acres spruce forest; annual cut, 350,000 cubic feet; road building begun in 1875; total mileage of 
improved roads in 1891, 141 miles; cost of road system and maintenance until 1891, $25,000. 

Cost of lo'jying reduced hy good logging roads. 
[Daily wages remaining constant at 60 cents] 



Lengtli of 

well-built 

logging 

roa'ds. 



Cost of 
logging per 



1877 . 

1878 - 

1879 . 
1880. 
1881 . 
1882. 

1883 . 

1884 . 



$1.93 
1.61 
1.61 
1.45 
1.15 
1.23 
1.15 
1.23 



Saving per 100 cubic feet 

Saving on annual coat of 350,000 cubic feet . 



220 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



[Price per load remain 



Cost of haulage reduced by good wagon roads. 
' constant at $:i.60. Full load, before improvement, 85-100 cubic feet; after imprOTeraent, 175-250 cubic feet.] 



1871-1877, before road improvements . 

1878-1884 

1S85-1891 



Cost of 

haulage 

per 100 

cubic feet. 



Saving per 100 cubic feet ? ™ no 

tiaving on animal cut of 350,000 cubic feet i,b^u..m 

Price of toood influenced hy road improvements. 
[Comparison of prices paid at Goslar and at other Harz districts.] 



Tear. 


Length of 

improved 

wagon 

roads. 


Prices for wood per 100 cubic feet. 


At Goslar. 


At other 
Harz dis- 
tricts. 


Difference 

in favor of 

Goslar. 




Miles. 
22 
34 
42 
55 
64 
68 
71 
77 
78 
79 
81 
82 
83 
85 
87 


$8.25 
8. B5 
9.59 
9-79 
9.05 
8.45 
8.66 
10.17 
8.88 
9.59 
11.12 
11.12 
11.39 
11. 72 
13.13 


$8.18 
8.04 
8.44 
8.44 
7.78 
7.43 
7.63 
8.18 
8.24 
8.39 
9.71 
9.98 
10.58 
10. 92 
11.80 


$0.07 
.61 
1.15 
1.35 
1.27 
1.02 
1.02 
1.99 
.64 
.20 
1.41 
1.14 
.81 
.82 
1.33 






























Average for fifteen years 






9.91 1 8.98 


.93 



Increase in price on total cut of 350,000 cubic feet 

Total prolit from iraproved.road system in reduced cost of log 

Or nearly 33 per cent on investment. 



ing and hauling, and in advance of price received for wood, per i 



Saving their cost in two years. 

Cost of road, macadamized in 1885, $6,960 ; maintenance for one year, $480 ; total, $7,440. During 1885-86 liauling 
470,000 cubic feet requiring on old road 4,273 load.s of 110 cubic feet average, at $3.60, $15,282.80 (or $2.70 per 1,000 
feet B. M.) ; on improved road, 2,652 load,s of 177 cubic feet average, at $;!.60, $9,547.20 (or $1.70 per l,000f.,t B. M.), 
saving of $1 for every 1,000 feet B. M. Total saving in haulage, $5,735.60, or 77 per cent on cost of road in one year. 

YIELD PER ACRE. 

Tbe amount of timber cut per acre is very large as compared \vitli average yields in wild woods. 
Of late the average yield lias varied from about 5,500 cubic feet per acre in Prussia to 9,000 cubic 
feet for the Saxon State forests. The yield has been steadily increasing since the beginning of 
this century, and in most States it has been nearly doubled through better management. At that 
earlier time much land was badly stocked or devoid of any cover, much timber was injured and 
stunted by continual removal of the litter and consequent impoverishment of the soil, and in most 
forests the young timber occupied much more than its share of ground, and thus less timber grew. 
In every one of the States and districts these conditions have been changed materially for the 
better, the cut was increased from year toyear, the wood capital or standing timber grew in total 
amount, and the productive capacity of the forest soils has generally improved. The cut for any 
given province or State is generally given as so much per acre of total area. Thus the cut for 
Saxony is placed at 90 cubic feet per acre of total forest area, though, of course, the yield of those 
tracts actually cut was about 9,000 cubic feet per acre cut. In the following table the figures 
relating to the State forests are from recent official records, also those of the corporation forests 
of Baden, Alsace-Lorraine, Bavaria, and parts of Wurtteniberg, while the figures for private 
forests and most of the corporation forests are estimates based on the experience of former years 
and of only part of the provinces. 



YIELD OF GERMAN FORESTS. 



221 



Yearly cut per < 



the State and other fo 



f of Germany {in million cubie feet.) 



For the entire Empire 

State forests ot'^ 

Prussia 

Bavaria 

Wurttemberj^ 

Saxony 

Badeu 

Alsace-Lorraine 

Hesse 

Mecklenburg-Sch werin 

Tlie entire Empire 

Corporation forests of the entire Empir 
Private forests of the entire Emi)ire b.. 



Cut per acre of forested i 



Total (in- 
cluding 

stump and 
branch 
wood 
■where 



Wood over 

3 inches 

(no stump 

wood). 



a Partly from official records, part estimate. 
b Generally estimated, as no accurate data ai 



dlable for any entire State. 



Using the above basis, tlie total auuual cut of the country (iu million cubic feet) is about as 
follows: 



Entire Empire 

Prussia 

Bavaria 

Wurttemherg 

Saxony 

Baden 

Alsace-Lorraine 

Hesse 

Mecklenburs-Sehweriu 



In the forests belonging to- 



67.3 
85.9 
t)5.;j 
34.8 
30.7 



37.5 
16.6 
21.3 
12.7 



26.5 
26.5 
22.3 



CONSUMPTION OF WOOD MATERIALS. 

Thus Germany has a steady and increasing supply of over 1,900 million cubic feet of timber 
per year (about one-tenth of our consumption) from tlie lands which iu most other countries remain 
barren wastes. Of these 1,900,000,000 there are near 600,000,000 cubic feet of saw timber and the 
like, the rest being cord wood and mostly firewood. From this it would appear that Germany 
produces about 40 cubic feet of wood per head of poi)ulation, and that of this about 12 cubic feet 
are saw timber, etc., as against 350 and 50 cubic feet for our consumption. But iu spite of the 
great economy of wood this amount of home-raised material does not satisfy the demand of the 
home markets, and Germany with its 1,900,000,000 cubic feet is to-day the second greatest importer 
of wood, particularly of saw timber, in the world. 

The import in this case means the excess of import over export, since naturally in all countries 
an export of some timber takes place. 

Consumption of wood (viillion cubic feet). 



Country. 


Total. 


Produced 
at liome. 


Imported. 


Loj; timber, etc. 


Per cent 
imported. 


Relative 
impor- 
tance aa 
import- 
ers. 


Produced 
at home. 


Imported. 


Germany 


2,090 

591 

1,175 


1.910 

140 

1,075 


180 
451 
100 


570 
42 
200 


180 
451 
100 


24 
99 
33 


40 
100 
22 







222 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS V. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Per head of populatiou, and comparing with the consumptioa in the United States, this 
becomes : 

Constimpiion of wood per cajiita of population {cubic feet). 



Country. 


Total. 


Prodaoed 
at home. 


Import 

export. 


Log tim- 
ber. 


Eolative 
wood con- 
sumption 
per head. 




44 
15 
32 
350 


40.5 
3.6 
30 
349.7 


3.8 
11.5 
2 
0.3 


15 
13 
8.3 
a 50 


Per cent. 
12.7 
4.3 
9 
100 











a This refers to lumber or sawed material alone. 

Since the consumption by sawmills of large timber, particularly coniferous material, is still 
increasing, it is clear that Germany has not nearly as much forest land as it needs, or else must 
still improve greatly its methods of production. At present 26 iier cent of its saw timber, etc., 
is imported. 

The following figures give an idea of the extent and distribution of the German trade in 
woods and wood manufactures : 

Germany's trade in wood and wood manufactures, 1S92. 



United States 

Russia 

Austria-Hungary 

Sweden 

France 

England 

Holland -■.. 

Norway 

Belgium 

Denmark 

Hamburg 

Switzerland 

East India 

Spain 

Argentina 

Brazil 

Porto Rico and Cuba 

Total 



a$2,418,000 
h 2B, 908, OOU 
c 16, 363, 000 
(45,222,000 



1,7 



,000 



1, 313, 000 

822, 000 

849, 000' 

730, COO 

56, (100 

124, 000 

220, 000 

el, 114, 000 

/I, 302, 000 

(7359,000 

68, 000 

A 352, 000 



60, 016, 000 



., 504, 000 

741, 000 

., 946, OOU 

305, 000 

I, 405, 000 

1, 449, 000 

!, 646, 000 

176, 000 

., 469, 000 

967, noo 

.,.551,000 
., 822, 000 
174, 000 
354, 000 
129. 000 
384, 000 



e Largely rattan. 
/Nearly all cork. 



g Largely quebracho. 
h Mahogany, etc. 



The prices paid by Germany have so far been very reasonable. Thus her imported lumber 
cost in 1892 only $18.30 per thousand feet; firewood only $6.50 per cord; fine hewn timber 
(mostly hard pine in long pieces) $30 per thousand feet, etc. 

With the enormous resources in European Russia and Sweden, part of which are not even 
organized as yet, there is no apprehension of rapid advances in prices and no likelihood of 
scarcity of supply. 

FINANCIAL RESULTS OP FOREST MANAGEMENT. 

Concerning the financial results of forest management only the records of the State forests 
are accessible. It is clear that the income depends on the amount of timber cut and the prices 
obtained. If, therefore, the yearly cut has been increased, in some cases doubled, by good man- 
agement since the beginning of this century, the income naturally is doubled. To this increase in 
amount of salable material there was added a general advance in prices, partly due to the 
deprecia>tion of money in general, but vastly increased by the improvements in transportation, for 
which large sums have been exjiended, especially during the last fifty years. 

The financial results of the various Government forest administrations vary considerably, as 
is natural, since market conditions vary much. It is believed that all these administrations are 
less profitable than they might be, being managed with great conservatism, and less for greatest 
financial result than for desirable economic results. 

The following table exhibits in a brief manner the results of this kind of management, the 
figures referring to conditions in 1890 or thereabout. The record for the city of Zurich is added 



FINANCIAL RESULTS OP GERMAN FORESTS. 



223 



to show how an intensively managed small forest property under favorable conditions of market 
compares with the more extensively managed larger forest areas : 

Forestry statistics of certain German forest administrations, showing average cost of adminislration, gross and net income 

pel- acre, 1890. 



Total ex- 
penditure. 



Expenditures and revenues per acre of forest. 



Expenditures. 



Prussia 

Bavaria 

Wurttemberg 

Saxony 

Baden 

City of Zurich 



Acres. 

6, 000, 000 

2, 30O, 000 

470, 000 

416, 000 

235. OOO 

2,760 



$8, 000, 000 
3, 160, 000 
1, 025, 000 
1, 040, 000 
404, 000 
14, 000 



%U, 000, 000 
5, 880, 000 
2, 260, 000 
2, 750, 000 
1, 090, 000 
26, 000 



$6, 000, 000 
2, 730, 000 
1, 235, 000 
1, 710, 500 
686, 000 
12, 000 



1.19 
2.63 
4.11 
2.90 
4.40 



The latest figures (1897) show a considerable increase in all directions, expenditures, gross, 
and net income, over those prevailing ten years ago, and, as we will see further on in the discussion 
of the conditions in the single States, these increases have been steady for a long period. 

The foUowiug figures represent the income and expense for State forests of the entire Empire 
and for the principal States as at present : 

Financial results, 1897. 
[MilUon dollars.] 



State forests. 



G-ermany a, 

Prussia 

Bavaria 

Wurttemberg . . . 

Saxony 

Baden 

Alsace-Lorraine . 



Mecklenburg-Schwerin . 



39, 361 
17,445 
8.100 
3,019 
2,865 
1,337 
1,522 
840 



20, 528 
8,366 
4,219 
1,795 



aThis item is a trille below the truth, as the small priucii>alities are here assumed to have no larger income than the average of the 
larger States. 

From this statement it appears that Germany has a yearly gross income of nearly $40,000,000 
from its State forests, i. e., from one-third of its total forest area alone, while the value of its forest 
products from the entire forest area (35,000,000 acres) may be estimated to sum up the handsome 
total of over $107,000,000, or round $3 gross income for every acre under forest cover. 

The following table illustrates the results of forest management in the several States. For 
comparison the figures represent the yearly income and outlay per acre of total forest area, so that 
for instance the gross income of $3.17 per acre for Germany means that the German State forests 
yield each year about that sum for every acre of State forest, or $39,300,000 on the whole. 

Yearly income and expenses per acre of forested area. 



State forests. 


Cnt of 
wood per 


Gross 


Expenses. 


Net 


Total. 


As a per 
cent of 
gross 
income. 




CuUcfeet. 
62 
64 
72 
81 
90 
73 
57 
75 
61 


$3.47 
2.66 
3.71 
6,50 
6,00 
5.82 
4.24 
4.95 
2.52 


$1.66 
1.38 
1.78 
2.64 
2.36 
2.69 
2.09 
2.37 
1.47 


48 

52 

48 

40.5 

34 

46.2 

49.4 

48 

58 


$1.81 
1.28 
1.93 
3.86 
4.54 
3.13 
2.12 
2.58 
1.05 




Bavaria 


Saxon V 


Baden' 











verage for 90 per cent of all State forests, and would be little changed if data for the other 10 per 



224 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



From these figures it appears that tlic several governments expend on an average about 
$1.60 per acre per year on their forest property, and that they obtain thereby a gross income of 
$3.47 per acre and a net revenue of $1.81, or 52 per cent of the gross income per acre per year. 
Considering the $1.81 as the interest on the value of the forest lands, and using the 3 per cent 
interest rate as customary for large investments, these figures show that by proper management 
the German States keep their poorest lands at a capital value of over $60 per acre; in other 
words, that the German State forests pay $19,000,000 for labor and taxes, and in addition pay 
interest at 3 per cent on a capital of $60 per acre. A large part of this land if deforested would 
not support a farmer and would rapidly degenerate into mountain pasture and heath, which at 
best could not be sold at over $5 per acre, and even then would prove more a detriment than 
advantage to the community. It also appears from the above figures that the revenue is largely 
in proportion to the expenses, that the forest which is best cared for also pays the best. The 
same conclusion is reached by a study of the past. In 1850, when the total expenses per acre in 
the Prussian forests were only 37 cents, the net income was only 40 cents; to-day it is $1.38 and 
the net income $1.28, and the same holds for other States. Thus Saxony exjiended 80 cents 
an acre per year in the beginning of this century and received 95 cents net income; today she 
spends $2.30 and receives $4.54, or nearly fivefold. That these advances are not merely the 
expression of higher prices for wood is clear from the fact that the average price of wood for the 
Prussian cut (300,000,000 cubic feet) has advanced since 1850 from $3.27 per 100 cubic feet to only 
$4.40, or 37 per cent, while the net income rose from 40 cents to $1.28, or 176 per cent. 

Since so much has been argued as to the impossibilities and impracticability of employing 
these better forestry methods elsewhere, and especially since the idea of sowing or planting forests 
has at all times been ridiculed in the United States, it may be of interest to note just how Germany 
expends her money in the woods. 

The following figures iiresent the various large items as per cent of the gross income. Thus 
the total expenses in the Prussian forest use up 50 per cent of the gross income, the logging alone 
14.8 per cent, etc. 

The expenses represented the following xjroportions of the total income in x^er cent: 



state forest of- 



Total ex 
penses. 



Atlmiuis- 

tration and 

protection 

(mostly 

salaries). 



Ciittingand 
Dvingtlie 
timber. 



Planting, 
sowing, 
drainage 
work, wood 
roads, etc." 



Per cent. 



Fnissia 

Bavaria 

Wurttemberg 

Saxony 

Baden 

Al.sace-Lorraine 

Hesse 

Mecklenburg Scliwerin 



14.6 
14.5 
17.7 
15.2 



Per cent. 



The above figures are doubly interesting, since they show that in Saxony, the very State where 
the timber is usually cut clean and the land restocked entirely by planting it with nursery stock, 
the item of planting, etc., uses up the smallest per cent of the total income — 0.4 per cent. 

From this brief outline it will be apparent that forestry in its modern sense is not a new, 
untried experiment in Germany; that the accurate official records of several States for the last 
one hundred years prove conclusively that wherever a systematic, continuous effort has been made, 
as in the case of all State forests, whether of large or small territories, the enterprise was successful ; 
that it i)roved of great advantage to the country, furnished a handsome revenue where otherwise 
no returns could be expected, led to the establishment of permanent woodworking industries, and 
thus gave opportunity for labor and capital to be active, not spasmodically, not speculative, but 
continuous and with assurance of success. This rule has, fortunately, not a single exception. To 
be sure, isolated tracts away from railroad or water, sand dunes, and rocky promontories exist in 
every State-, and the management of these poor forest areas costs all the tract can bring and often 
more; but the wood is needed, the dune or waste is a nuisance, and the State has found it profit- 
able to convert it into forest, even though the direct revenue falls short of the expense. 



GERMAN FOREST MANAGEMENT — PRUSSIA. 225 

FOKEST ADMINISTEATION. 

The care aucl active legislative consideratiou of the forest wealth dates back fully three cen- 
turies. The so called "Forstordiiuugeu" (forest ordinances) of the sixteenth and seventeenth 
centuries laid the foundation for the present 'system, and in some States, like Wurttemberg, were 
never repealed, but merely modified to adapt them to modern views of political economy. The 
end of the seventeenth century brought much discussion into the subject of forest legislation, as 
in all other public affairs, and even conservative Germany was led beyond the point of equilibrium, 
and in most States the State supervision, especially of private forests, was abandoned. This led 
to the division and parceling of forest properties, and with the diminutive holding came misman- 
agement and to considerable extent the complete devastation. This condition never affected any 
of the State forests nor the majority of corporation forests, so that these properties continued on 
their way to Improvement. The wretched condition of many of the iirivate forests is dex^lored, 
exposed, discussed, but so far those States which gave the private forest free have been unable to 
do more than to teach by example and to encourage, both means entirely ineffective when, as is 
usually the case, the owner is too poor to handle a forest. What remains to be done is being done 
as fast as means and opportunity offer. The State buys these half wastes, restocks them at great 
expense, and thus public mouey pays for public folly. 

To provide for a suitable and efficient forest service Grermany has expended large sums in 
promoting forestry education. At nine separate colleges men are prepared for this work, and the 
forest manager ("Oberfoerster," "Eevierfoerster") in any of the State forests is a college-bred 
man with a general education about equivalent and similar to that leading to a degree of bachelor 
of science in our better universities. The organization in all German States is similar — a central 
ofBce at the seat of government, manned by experienced foresters, acts as advisor to the govern- 
ment, shapes the forest policy of the State, introduces all large measures of reform, etc., and acts 
as court of appeal in important forest cases. In each province, if the State is large (if not, the 
central office acts), a i^rovincial forest office sees after the work of the province. This office 
cooperates with the forest managers in preparing plans for every piece of forest laud, in deter- 
mining the cut of the year, and it also examines the work as well as the records of every district, 
and acts as tribunal for the jirovince in forest matters. But the real managers of the forests are 
the "Oberfoerster" or "Revierfoerster," each of whom has on an average about 10,000 acres of 
forest land for which he acts as responsible director. He lives in the forest, keeps himself 
informed as to all details, plans for every piece of ground (his plans must be approved by his 
superiors), and executes all plans. He determines where and when to cut, to plant, to build roads, 
and it is he who sells the forest products. In all cases he has a number of assistants and guards 
who act as i^olice, and at the same time as foremen to the laborers, directing their work and 
keeping their time, or measuring their cut or work. The district which the Oberfoerster manages 
forms the unit in all records and transactions. All forest officials of any responsibility are 
employed for life or good behavior, their requirements, duties and rights, rates of pay, pension, 
etc., are all clearly set forth in the forest laws of every State. 

In the following pages the conditions and results of forest management in the leading States 
are fully set forth, based upon the latest official data available. 

FoKEST Management of Leading States. 



The Kingdom of Prussia, with its 30,000,000 people and an area of nearly 90,000,000 acres of 
land, representing all natural conditions from the low coast plain to the precipitous mountain 
system, with its busy centers of manufacture and commerce and its distant rural provinces, 
stands out to-day as the strongest exami^le of the great benefits of scientific forestry. 

The forests of Prussia cover 8,192,505 hectares (about 20,300,000 acres), or 23.5 per cent of the 
total area. This proportion of forest varies for different parts of the Kingdom from 16 per cent to 
39 per cent ; it is below the average of 23 per cent in seven provinces, of which only Schleswig- 
Holstein falls below 16 per cent, and is above the average in six provinces, some of which, like 
Brandenburg, belong to the densely populated portions of the Kingdom. The area relations 
H. Doc. 181 15 



226 FOEESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

liave remained practically constant for about thirty years, there being then as now in forest 
20,000,000 acres; cultivated 42,000,000 acres, or about twice as much cultivated land as forest. 

Of the forest area, 8 per .cent belongs to the crown, 30 to the state, 12.5 to villages or 
municipalities, 1 to Stiftungen (Fonds), 3.7 to corporations, and 52,9 to private owners. This 
ownership relation has changed a trifle during the last twenty years, the state and municipal 
forests having gained a little over 1 per cent at the expense of the private and corporation forests. 

Situated between latitude 49° to 55° N. and longitude 23° to 40° E. and occupying portions of 
the extensive coast plain along Baltic and ISTorth seas, as well as covering parts of nine separate 
mountain chains, the forests of Prussia naturally display considerable variety. Of the total 
20,000,000 acres, about half falls to the plain, one-fourth to the hilly, and one-fourth to the regular 
mountain districts. The climate is moderately cold; the mean or average temperature for summer 
is about 60° to 65^ F., varying but little for the different parts of the Kingdom, and being quite 
uniform for all three summer months. Spring and fall, the latter a trifle warmer and more even 
.than the former, have a mean temperature of about 45° F., while that of the winter months is 
generally near the freezing point, the coldest weather for any one place and month being rarely 
below 25° F. ' 

Prussia is a moderately humid country. The records from thirty to seventy years indicate an 
even distribution of precipitation, varying generally between 22 and 28 inches, reaching a height 
of over 32 inches, and only 3 out of about 40 stations. With regard to the manner of management, 
the kind of timber raised, and the financial results of the work, the State forests, for which alone 
exact statistics exist, may serve-as examples, though the results are somewhat better in these 
than in the forests of municipalities and private owners. 

The total area of State forest in 1893 was 2,464,757 hectares, or about 6,750,000 acres. This 
total area has remained almost unchanged for over thirty years. During this time many large 
and small tracts have been sold or exchanged to round off the State holdings and to satisfy 
Ijrivate rights, many of which had become extremely troublesome and proven a great hindrance 
in the proper management of the woods. These sales and exchanges were fully balanced by 
purchases, especially of poor, unproductive i^rivate forests and heath lauds, for which purpose 
of late the State appropriates annually the large sum of 1,000,000 marks ($250,000), the policy of 
increasing the State holdings having been steadily pursued for more than fifty years. About two- 
thirds of the State forests are situated in the North German plain, though some occur in every 
province of the Kingdom. 

Of these State forests 97 per cent are regular timber forest, mostly pine and spruce, where 
the final crop is intended to furnish saw timber, and every particular parcel is supposed to be 
stocked with trees of nearly the same age. Only one-half of 1 per cent is managed as "Plenter- 
wald" with the method of selection where trees of all sizes and age mingle together on the same 
parcel and the logging merely involves the selection of suitable sizes. One-half of 1 per cent is 
standard coppice, where the bulk of the trees, commonly hard woods, are cut off while still small, 
15 to 30 years old, while a small portion is left over to grow into larger sizes; and 1.7 per cent is 
managed as coppice, largely oak coppice for tanbark, where the trees (only the sprouting hard 
woods) are cut down every ten to twenty-five years, the wood being utilized chiefly as poles and 
fael. Of the timber forests, 62 per cent is stocked with pine, almost entirely Scotch pine (Pinus 
sylvestris), furnishing hard pine similar to our red or Norway pine, 16 per cent is beech, 12 per cent 
spruce, and nearly 6 per cent oak forest. Thus about 75 per cent of all Prussian State forests are 
coniferous woods and only about 25 per cent stocked with hard woods, principally oak and beech. 

In general the trees of the timber forests are cut at an age of about 100 years (a 100-year 
rotation). At present 13 per cent of the area is stocked with trees over 100 years old; 13 per 
cent, 81 to 100 years old; 14 per cent, 61 to 80 years old; 18 per cent, 41 to 60 years old; 19 per 
cent, 21 to 40 years old; 19 per cent, 1 to 20 years old, and about 4 per cent are cut clean (recent 
fellings) to be reforested at once. 

SAXONY. 

If Prussia may be regarded the best example of the success of rational forestry in a large 
country, and Wurttemberg can be cited as proving the great value of a very conservative, almost 
paternal, attitude of the State with regard to its forests, surely Saxony deserves the credit of 
leading all other countries in the intensity of its forest management. 



GERMAN FOREST MANAGEMENT — SAXONY. 



227 



The total area of the State is 3,700,000 acres, and its population 3,182,000, and its total forest 
area about 1,020,000 acres, or 27 per cent. Of this forest area, 173,889 hectares, or nearly 430,000 
acres, equal to about 43 per cent of all forests of the country, belong to the State. The accurate 
records for these State forests have been kept for more than eighty years, and fully illustrate the 
development and growth of forestry in the Kingdom. The bulk of the forests are mountain forest; 
91 per cent in conifers, mostly spruce, and only 9 per cent in,hard woods, most of which is beech; 
while only about 4 per cent is nonproductive rock and water area. 

As early as 1764 the State of Saxony began the imiDrovement of the then rather dilapidated 
forest properties. The real systematic work of forest survey and management, however, did not 
begin until Heinrich Ootta (often called the father of modern forestry) began his noteworthy 
efforts in 1811. Though the Government never appropriated special funds for the" increase of its 
forest holdings, the money which accrued from the sales of other State lands, as well as roadways, 
building sites, etc., sufliced to increase the area during the past eighty years by fully 16 per cent, 
the growth being a slow, steady one, fully illustrating the policy of the Government. 

Thus the growth was: 1836 to 1846, 5,000 acres; 1846 to 1853, 5,000 acres; 1853 to 1863, 5,000 
acres; 1863 to 1873, 17,200 acres; 1873 to 1883, 17,200 acres; 1883 to 1893, 12,500 acres. 

As in all German States, nearly every piece of State forest was burdened by rights of private 
persons and corporations, for which Saxony has paid, almost entirely in cash, the handsome price 
of $1,300,000. 

During the last sixty years the area stocked with conifers has steadily grown from about 
310,000 to over 385,000 acres, and the area of beech and other hard woods except oak has been 
projiortionately diminished, the hard woods all told covering at present only about 14,000 acres, or 
a little over 3 per cent of the forest area. The condition of the forests, though, of course, very 
good at the start, if comijared to ordinary wild woods, has steadily improved since 1817, in spite 
of the fact that each decade a larger amount of wood was cut. 

The following figures serve to illustrate this important fact and at the same time show that 
there has not only been a steady increase in the total amount of wood standing and the amount 
cut, but that the larger sizes form to-day a much greater per cent than formerly : 



Years. 


Total 
amount of 
"wood cut 
each year 
(average 
for each 
decade). 


Per acre of forested area. 


Amount cut. 


Amount 
standing 
per acre on 
total area. 


Total. 


Wood over 

3 inches 

thick (cord 

■wood and 

timber). 


Timber 

(not cord 

wood). 




M. cub. ft. 
21, 400 
21, 800 
20, 400 
23, 500 
26, 000 
31,600 
36, 600 
37,400 


Citbicfeet. 
60 
61 
66 
64 
70 
82 
90 
90 


Oubicfeet. 
40 
39 
36 
44 
48 
60 
66 
68 


Cuiic/eet. 
7 
10 
11 
14 
23 
37 
47 
54 


Oubicfeet.- 












2,120 
2,280 
2,480 
2,650 
2,620 













From these figures it aijpears that the cut on the whole has increased from 21,000,000 cubic 
feet to 37,000,000, or by fully 57 per cent, and the cut per acre and year of total forest area from 60 
cubic feet to 90 cubic feet, or exactly 50 per cent. Moreover, of the 90 cubic feet per acre in 1893 
there were 68 cubic feet, or 75 per cent, wood over 3 inches (excluding stump wood), while from 1817 
to 1826 only 66 per cent was over 3-inch stuff. But what indicates even more strongly the efiect 
of better management is the fact that more than half of the cut of 1893 was sold, not as cord wood, 
but as timber (saw timber, etc.), while even as late as 1865 only a fourth could thus be utilized, 
though the manner of selection (inspection) has changed but little since that time. That with all 
this intense utilization of the forest the standing timber should increase instead of becoming 
exhausted is perhaps the strongest example of the success of scientific forestry and one which in 
this country would scarcely be believed possible by most of the lumbermen and woodsmen. 

Practically, all State forests are timber forests and the prevalent method of treatment has for 
a long time been the " kahlschlag " method of cutting, where all trees are cut at the harvest and 
the bare area is at once planted with nursery stock. The exijenses for cultural work all told. 



228 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



includiug maintenance of nurseries, seed and plant purchases, as well as planting, amount to only 
12 cents an acre per year, or 1.8 per cent of the gross income, while for the last twenty years more 
than twice this sum has been expended for construction and improvement of roads, the great 
value of which are nowhere more fully recognized than in busy Saxony. 
The iinancial results are exhibited in the following table: 

General financial results in the Slate forests of Saxony. 



1817-1820 
1827-1836 
1837-1846 
1847-185;! 
1854-18113 
1864-1873 
1874-1S83 
1884-1893 



$649, 000 
692, 000 
761, 000 
976. 000 
1, 368, 000 

1, 986, 000 

2, 024, 000 
2, 890, 000 



Annual 
expeuae. 



443. 000 
663, 000 
875, 01)0 
996, UOO 



Annual 
net in- 
come. 



419, 000 

58S, 000 

925, 000 

1,423,000 

1,749,000 

1, 894, 000 



Per acre and year of total forest 



lgZ7. ^''P'^"^"- ^ome" 



3.53 
4.91 
6.23 
6.66 



3.52 
4.15 
4.37 



The extraordinary results indicated in the above table can not entirely be credited to the 
increase of wood prices and the general depreciation of money during this century; they are 
primarily the monetary expression of the improvements indicated in the previous tables; they 
mean increased sales, and sales of older, larger, and better material. 

When it is considered that Saxony has taken in about $190,000,000 during the last fifty years 
from a small area of rough lands (left waste iu many countries, even in Europe), a tract of land 
half the size of a good county iu Wisconsin, the great advantage of a careful treatment of forest 
areas must become clear to everyone. Considering the net income as the interest of the value of 
the forest lands at the prevailing 3 per cent rate, the table shows that scientific care has increased 
the value of these poor mountain lands from $100 to $150, whereas their deforestation would quickly 
convert them into poor alpine pastures which would bankrupt their owners at $10 an acre. The 
table also shows clearly that it is not accident, not merely a general improvement of the country, 
but that it is careful, systematic work which has led to these improvements. When Saxony spent 
only $1 on each acre of forest land she received only $1.54 net income; when she spent $2.39, her 
net income was more than doubled, reaching during the ten years ending 1893 $1.37. 

The following figures illustrate the nature and relative importance of the expenses per acre 
as compared with the income, as well as the prices obtained for the material : 



Decade ending— 


Price per 
cubic foot 
of wood 
over 3 
inches. 


Wood 
cut. 


Gross 


Total. 


For ad- 
min istra- 
tiou and 

protec- 
tion - 


Felling 

and 
moving 
timber, 

etc. 


Planting 

and other 

cultural 

work. 


Eoads. 




Cents. 
4.2 
4.7 
5.6 
6.0 
7.4 
8.1 
9.4 
9.9 


CuUcfeet. 
60 
61 
56 
64 
70 
82 
90 
00 


$1.75 
1.86 
2.02 
2.56 
3.53 
4.91 
6.23 
6.66 


$0.80 
86 
90 
1.02 
1.14 
1.39 
2.08 
2.29 


Cents. 
38 
40 
44 
47 
49 
54 
77 
93 


Cents. 
3D 
31 . 

31 
37 
45 
62 
92 
95 


Cents. 
8 
8 
10 
11 
13 
10 
13 
14 


Cents. 
2 
5 
4 
5 
6 
11 
24 
26 






1853 




1873 









From the above it appears that the prices of wood have doubled since 1817, but that during 
the last twenty-five years they have remained practically constant. Part of this advauce is due 
to the general advance of prices, but part also to the improvement of the material sold. The 
advauce in the expenditure for administration since 1846 is due both to the advance in wages and 
salaries generally (seen also iu the advauce of cutting expenses), but is also due to the greater 
competence of the administration. Saxony, unlike Michigan and other States of this Unoin, 
prefers to spend the money in protecting its forest rather than saving the expense and losing the 
])roperty. Of special interest is also the fact that even in this intensive management, where 
almost every acre is reforested by planting with nursery stock, the cultural operations, including 
drainage and kindred expenses have varied only within a few cents per acre, involving during 



GERMAN FOREST MANAGEMENT — BAVARTA. 



229 



tlie last tliirty years generally less than 2 per cent of the gross income. To many in this land of 
forest flres it may perhaps be remarkable that this general enemy and its destructions have not 
been of sufficient consequence to deserve compilation for this general statement. These mountain 
forests of spruce and pine are simply not allowed to burn up. 

The management of the forests of Saxony is similar to those of Prussia. While those of the 
State are under conservative and most efdcient care, those of private persons and corporations 
are practically free; the only thing the State authorities do is to give good example, assist private 
individuals, etc., by furnishing cheap plant material from the forest nurseries and to prepare i^lans 
for the management of forests if such plans are asked and paid for. 



The kingdom of Bavaria has a total area of about 18.8 million acres, or little more than half 
that of the State of Wisconsin, supporting a population of about 5,589,000 people. It comprised 
about 10,500,000 acres, or 56 per cent, of fields and gardens ; 750,000 acres, or 4 per cent, of pasture 
lands; 0,350,000 acres, or 34 per cent, of forest; 1,200,000 acres, or 6 per cent, of iinproductive 
land, largely mountains, roads, and water surfaces. 

On the whole, this relation of areas has not changed materially in over thirty-five years, so 
that in 1893 the total area of forest lands is given at about 6,200,000 acres, or at 35.1 per cent of 
the entire land surface. ■ 

Of these 6,200,000 acres there are: State forests, 2,160,000 acres, or 34.8 per cent; corpora- 
tion forests, 780,000 acres, or 12.6 per cent; pond forests, 110,000 acres, or 1.7 per cent; private 
forests, 3,150,000 acres, or 50.9 per cent. 

The forest hiws and forest organization resemble those of Baden and Wurttemberg. The 
private forests are under State supervision, clearing of forest lands requires a permit, the mis- 
management or devastation of a forest property is forbidden, and devastated forest areas are to 
be reforested by the State and the expense charged to the forest. All corporation and Fonds 
forests are under direct control of or are managed under conti-ol of the State forest authorities, 
so that fully one-half the forest area of Bavaria is und(;r careful treatment. As with all German 
States, Bavaria constantly endeavors to increase the State holdings, and deteriorated and other 
forest properties are bought up as opportunity offers. During the fifty years ending 1894, the 
State purchased about 144,000 acres, at a cost of $5,577,000, or about §38 per acre. Besides this 
increase of territory, the State has, during this same period, expended about $3,800,000 in the 
purchase of easements or servitude, involving 10,716 separate cases of privileges to timber and 
firewood. Nevertheless, there are still many of these privileges or servitudes, which require an 
annual outlay of over $400,000 and thus represent a capital value of over $10,000,000. 

The distribution of the forests over the kingdom is rather an even one. Six of the eight 
provinces have over 30 per cent, the lowest 22 Y>er cent of forest area, while the highest 38 jier 
cent. Of the entire forests area about 90 per cent is covered by timber forest, where the timber 
is cut usually at about 100 to 120 j'ears, and only 9.4 per cent as coppice and standard coppice. 

Forty years ago the same was stocked as follows : 



/ 


Coppice 
Timber i .ind 
forests, j standard 

coppice. 


Selection 
timber 
forests. 




1 
Per cent. Per cent 


Per cent. 
3 

,^ 1 


Corporation forests 


02 : 35 













The principal forest trees are the conifers, chiefly spruce. Of the total, about 46.2 per cent is 
spruce and fir, 30 per cent pine, 9.7 per cent beech, 4 per cent oak (two-thirds oak-bark coppice), 
2.3 per cent other hard wood timber, 6.S pei' cent other hard-wood coppice. 

Thus, conifers represent about 77 per cent, the hard woods 23 per cent. The conifers are 
primarily the trees of the mountains, the hard woods, beech particularly, being most abundant in 



230 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULUURE. 



the valley of the Ehine, the Palatinate, and Lower Franconia, where the beech forests cover as 
high as SO per cent of the forest area. 

In 1860 the total cut for the kingdom was 275 million cubic feet of stem wood, 35 million cubic 
feet of branch wood, 30 million cubic feet of stump wood, making a total of 340 million cubic feet, 
aud was divided as follows : 





Per cent 

of total 

cut. 


Yield per 




39 
14 
40.5 


Cubic ft. 

68 

46 

,47 






Total 


100 


51 





For the State forests alone the cut in 1894 of wood over 3 inches, excluding branch and stump 
wood, was 55 cubic feet per acre, and included saw and other timber, 55 million cubic feet; cord 
wood (exclusive of branches and stumps), 64 million cubic feet. 

The financial results for the 2.16 million acres of State iorests were, in 1894: Total income, 
$8,100,000, or $3.71 per acre; total expense, $3,881,000, or $1.78 per acre; net income, $4,219,000, 
or $1.93 per acre. 

Compared to other small States of Germany, particularly Saxony and Wurttemberg, the net 
revenue per acre of forest is decidedly low; but it must not be forgotten that a considerable part 
of these State forests is situated in the high Alps, where the difficulties of removing the timber 
have so far been very great, and the value of timber consequently very small. Thus, fine timber 
trees, worth $50 to $100 on the markets of the lower Rhine, are worth little over $1 apiece in these 
Alpine districts. 

As might be expected, the permanent improvements of the forests, particularly the construc- 
tion of highways and roads, still reqirire large sums every year. Thus, in 1894, Bavaria spent 
over 1,000,000 marks ($250,000) on road construction. 

The management of the forests is quite similar to that of the other German States. The 
Eevierforster, corresponding to the Prussian Oberforster, is the responsible manager of each 
district. The districts are quite large; they include usually about 5,000 acres of State forest, so 
that one Eevierforster is usually 6 to 10 miles from his neighbor. 

For all State and corporation forests, an area of a little over 3 million acres, there are 009 
Eevierforster or managers, 1,589 guards and assistants, besides 175 accountants and 107 superior 
officials. The manager or Eevierforster makes and executes the plans and keeps the records for 
the woods of his district. 

As in Wurttemberg, rational measures for the proper use and treatment of forests of Bavaria 
date back to the beginning of the seventeenth century. As early as 1616 a forest law was 
passed which embodied all that seemed at that time desirable. This law was modified, some 
complications arising from the change of size and form of the kingdom, and also through the 
radical views promulgated during the second half of the eighteenth century. On the whole, 
however, Bavaria remained conservative, which in view of its large mountain forests must be 
regarded as particularly fortunate. 

The establishment of the forest school at Munich took place about 1789, when a general 
reorganization occurred, and the functions of the forester changed from those of a hunter to those 
of a producer of timber. 

W URTTEMBEKG. 

This little State, with an area of about 4,820,000 acres, or about one-seventh that of 
Wisconsin, and a population of little over 2,000,000 people, ranks among the most conservative as 
well as the most successful among the commonwealths of Europe. In matters of forestry this 
State began proper measures as early as 1614, when laws were inaugurated for the proper 
treatment of forest properties, which remain fundamental to this day. These early laws, which 
made the proper care of forests obligatory to all and forbade both forest devastation and clearing 
(the latter possible only on permit), were properly enforced and maintained even through the 



GERMAN FOREST MANAGEMENT — WDRTTEMBERG 231 

troublesome times of the end of the eighteenth century. They were remodeled and perfected to 
suit modern conditions in 1875 and 1870 the law of the former date dealing with the forests of 
public corxjorations, the latter with State and private forests in general. 

The " forest police law" of 1879 requires : 

(«.) Clearing of forest requires a State permit; illegal clearing is punished with a fine. 

(b) A neglected piece of forest shall not become waste land; the State authority sees to its 
reforestation, with or without help of owner, the expenses to be charged to the forest. 

(c) If the forester is convinced that a private owner cuts too much wood or otherwise 
mismanages his forest, he is to warn the owner, and if this warning is not heeded the forest 
authority may take in hand and manage the particular tract, 

{(l) Owners of small tracts of forest can combine into associations and can place their 
properties with municipal or even State forests for protection and management. In the latter 
case they share the advantages of part of the municipal or communal forests which are managed 
by State authorities. 

The law of 1875 relating to the management and supervision of forests belonging to villages, 
towns, and other public corporations places the forests under this category all under direct State 
supervision ; there being a special division of corporation or municipal forests in connection with 
the State forest bureau. The law demands that all corporation forests be managed in accordance 
with the principles of a continued supply, the same as the State forests. The corporation may 
employ its own foresters, but these must be approved by the forest bureau and are responsible for 
the proper execution of the plans of management. These plans are prepared by the foresters and 
must be approved by the State forest authorities. If preferred, the corporation may leave the 
management of its forests entirely to the State authorities. This is always done if a corporation 
neglects to fill the iiosition of its forester within a certain period after it becomes vacant. Where 
the State forest authorities manage either corporation or private forest, the forest is charged with 
8 cents per acre and year for this administration. This fee is generally less than it costs, so that 
the State really has been making a sacrifice so far in providing a satisfactory management for 
these forests. 

As in all other German States, nearly every piece of forest land was formerly encumbered 
with certain rights which entitled the holders to certain fixed amounts of firewood, timber, to 
pasture live stock, etc. The law of 1848 obliges the holders of these rights to part with them if 
the proprietor pays the value of the rights, the manner of ascertaining the value being set forth 
in the law itself. Thus, for the right of cutting his supply of firewood in a forest the holder of 
the right is paid a sum which if placed at 4 per cent interest will purchase as much wood as the 
holder of the right used per year, the average of twelve seasons being the criterion. Of the 
different rights or iwivileges, those concerning pasturage and the cutting of hay in the forests 
are practically settled, and the State paid between 1873 and ISSO about 2,445,000 marks, or 
$611,000, for these rights. For privileges of cutting wood and timber the State has expended 
large sums. Even prior to 1848, between 1825 and 1850, forest land valued in the aggregate at 
about $3,000,000, and between 1850 and 1880 over $.500,000 more have been paid out to rid the 
woods of these pestiferous rights, and yet as late as 1873 these rights were worth $32,000 per 
year, or a capital (at 4 jjer cent interest) of $800,000. 

In matters of taxation all forests are assessed according to the net revenue which they 
produce. Of the total area of the land, about 42 per cent is plow land, 18 per cent meadows and 
pastures, 31 per cent forest, 3 per cent gardens and vineyards, and 2 per cent roads. In its 
distribution over the State the forest forms 27 per cent of the area of the Nekar Kreis, 39 per 
cent of the area of the Schwarzwald Kreis, 31 per cent of the area of the Jaxt Kreis, and 25 per 
cent of the area of the Donau Kreis. 

Of the total of about 1,470,000 acres of forest, 480,000, or 32 per cent, belong to the State; 
470,000, or .32 per cent, to corporations, and 530,000, or 36 per cent, to individuals. 

Of the corporation forests, nearly 360,000 acres are managed by State foresters; of the private 
forests, 200,000 acres are held by the nobility, including the royal family. 

Accurate statistics have been prepared so far only for the State forests and of late also for the 
corporation forest, so that a more detailed description of these classes must serve as illustration 
for the whole. 



232 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Tbe State forests of 480,000 acres occupy parts of all four proviuces of the couutry. About 
92 per cent lie between 900 and 2,400 feet altitude; 42 per cent are stocked on level ground, 29 per 
cent on gentle slopes, and about tbe same amount on steep declines. Over 40 per cent of these 
forests are situated on sandy soils, and the rest are largely on the poor limestone soils of the Jura, 
and only a small part on the drift formation skirting the north side of tbe Alps. 

Of the State forest area there is covered by a pine growth of spruce, 28 per cent; beech, 20 
per cent; fir, 9 per cent; pine, 7 per cent; mixed growth of conifers, 14 per cent; conifers and 
hardwoods, 9 per cent; mixed hardwoods with oak, 7 per cent; mixed bardwoods without oak, 2 
per cent. Thus about 60 per cent is coniferous growth and only 30 per cent hardwoods, with about 
9 per cent mixed timber. 

Fully 97 per cent of the State forests are managed by the timber forest system. Tbe rotation is 
for timber forest, 100 years for 74 per cent of the area ; 80 years for 24 per cent of the area, and 
120 years for 2 per cent of the area. 

At tbe present (1894) the areas containing timber over 100 years old cover 11 per cent of tbe 
area; 81 to 100 years old cover 15 per cent of the area; 61 to 80 years old, 15 per cent; 41 to 60 
years old, 17 per cent; 21 to 40 years old, 19 per cent; 1 to 20 years old, 23 per cent; so that a 
fairly regular distribution for a lOOyear rotation exists. 

These timber forests yield about 56 ' cubic feet per acre of timber from the main cut or harvest 
and 11 cubic feet per acre from thinnings, making in all 67 cubic feet per acre and year for the entire 
area^ The 3 per cent managed in coppice and standard coppice cut only about 14 cubic feet per 
acre and year. 

The total cut for 1894 was, for wood over 3 inches thick: Oak, 1,200,000 cubic feet, or 3.9 per 
cent; beech and some other hard woods, 7,900,000 cubic feet, or 26 per cent; conifers, 21,500,000 
cubic feet, or 70 per cent. 

This cut was composed of — 

A. — Timber generally over G inches at the top end. 





Amount. 


Per cent. 




Cubic feet, 
560, 000 
420, 000 

13, 800, 000 


3.8 
2.8 
94 








14, 780, 000 


100 





B. — Poles 2-6 inches, S feet from butt end. 





Amount. 


Per cent. 


Oak 


Cubic feet. 

1,500 

6,400 

685, 000 


0.2 
.9 
99 


Beech and other liard woods 




092, 900 


100 





C. — Cordwood. 





For 
wooden 
ware. 


For firewood. 


Oak 


Guhicfeet. 
46, 000 
78, 000 
295, 000 


Cubic feet. 

590, 000 

7, 400, 000 

6, 450, 000 


Beech and other hard woods 





The above figures, especially those for the yield in saw and other timber, clearly point out the 
great advantage of the conifers over the bard woods. Tbe same is also clearly illustrated by 
the fact that the material sold as firewood forms only 40 per cent in conifers, but 94 per cent in 



'This means that if the timber is 100 years old, as most of it is, each acre of forest cuts 5,600 cubic feet of wood 
at time of harvest. 



GERMAN FOKEST MANAGEMENT WUETTEMBERG. 



233 



beech and other hard woods, leaviug out the oak. Moreover, the yields have been much greater 
for conifers than beech. 

Thus the yield for material over 3 inches thick in the hard woods was only 5L cubic feet per 
acre and conifers 74 cubic feet per acre, while the average value of the two is about as 5 for beech 
and other hard woods, leaviug out oak, to 8 for coniferous wood, so that the yield in money per 
acre for the two was more nearly 2.4 times as great for conifers as for hard woods. 

The ijrices obtained for wood, generally delivered at the main roads, was : Timber, oak (white 
oak), 25 cents per cubic foot; conifers, il.7 cents per cubic foot. Cord wood, beech, 4.9 cents per 
cubic foot, or $6.30 per cord; conifers, 3.6 cents per cubic foot, or $4.60 per cord. 

The money results were for 1894 as follows : 

Gross income $3, 019, 000, or 100 per cent 

Total expense 1,224,000, or 40 per cent 

Net income 1, 795, 000, or 60 per cent 

or per acre of forest area : 

Gross income $3. 20 

Expenses 2. i51 

Net income 3.69 

this latter forming 59 jier cent of the gross revenue. 
Among the expenses were conspicuous: 

Felling- of timber $397,000 

Administration and protection 339, 000 

Roads, new, and repair 163, 000 

Taxes ' 103,000 

Planting, sowing, etc 91, 000 

The following figures illustrate the progress of the last eighty years, and at the same time 
indicate how steadily this small area of otherwise almost valueless land has been made to furnish 
an ample supijly of timber and a handsome revenue: 



Hesulfs of forest management in the State forests of Wiirttemherg. 



Year. 


Forest 
area. 


Wood over 
3 inches 
thick cut 
eacli year. 


Price per 
cuhiclbot 


Per acre and year.o 


Net 
income. 


Cut wood 
overs 
inches. 




M acres. 


Mcuhicfeet. 


Cents. 


$0.30 
.42 
.52 
.64 
.85 
1.78 
1.93 
1.11 
1.42 
3.22 
3.54 
2.62 
4.21 


Cubicfeet. 


1819 

1823 . . 


472 








15, 200 
17, 200 
17, 700 
25, 000 

25, 400 
23, 800 

26, 600 
28, 400 

25, 300 

26, 600 
28, 800 
28, 700 
29,400 
30. 200 
30. 600 




33 
37 
39 
55 
55 
52 
58 
61 
64 
57 
61 




169 
445 
447 
453 
452 
455 
457 
460 
465 
467 
471 
474 
476 
480 




















1855 


4.3 
7.5 
9.7 
7.5 
10.7 
8.0 
8.1 
8.7 
9.3 


1860 




1870 


1875 




2. 66 60 
2. 90 61 
3. 33 63 
3. 69 63 


1885 


1890 . 


1894 






1 



aEefers to entire forest area — swamp, water, surfaces, and all. 

Most of the logging is done by the cubic foot or cord, and the prices are about 60 to 65 cents 
per 100 cubic feet of coniferous and 80 cents per 100 for hard- wood timber, while cord wood is 
generally worked up for about $1 per cord, including piling at roadway. All cut-over land is 
at once reforested. During 1894, 275 acres were thus recovered by seeding and about 6,000 acres 
by planting, the latter being thus generally the rale, especially in the coniferous districts. The 
total expenses of cultural work were $88,000, or less than 3 per cent of the gross income. 

The thinnings of the dense sapling timber involved during the year about 20,000 acres and 
furnished about 240 cubic feet of wood per acre. Most of this material in the hard-wood district 
has to be cut into inferior firewood, but the sjiruce, fir, and pine can usually be sold as poles and 
pulp stuff, etc. 



234 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Thougli largely stocked on sandy soils and composed of pine and other conifers, there are no 
forest fires reported for the year. The administration of forests is iu the hands of " Eevierfoerster," 
correspondiug to the Prussian " Oberfoerster," who prepare the plans and execute them, being 
assisted by a body of subalterns. The district of a Eevierfoerster covers about 10,000 acres of 
forest while the range or "hut" of the forest guard is generally about one-tenth of this. These 
o-uards also serve as foremen in all cultural and felling operations, but the Eevierfoerster is 
supposed to keep fully informed on all details and preserve accurate record. Besides their duties 
as State forest officers, it is expected that these men also keep themselves informed as to the 
condition of private and other forests. 

BADEN. 

In this intensively cultivated little State, with a total area of only about 3,720,000 acres, 
supporting a population of 1,G5G,000, the forests occupy over 37 per cent of the entire land surface. 
The forest area has increased between 1880 and 1895 by over 50,000 acres, being iu the latter 
year 650,891 hectares, or about 1,300,000 acres. These forests were owned as follows: 



state 

Yillnges and towns 
other corporationa 
Private persons: 

Nobility 

Others 



Acres, 
237, 000 
620, 000 
47, 000 



232, 000 
610, 000 
33, 000 



The forest policy of Baden has been conservative and there is no State in Germany where the 
general conditions of the forests are better. Since all municipal aiid corporatiou forests are under 
direct State control, being managed by the State forest authorities, about 910,000 acres, or over 
60 per cent of all forests, enjoy a careful, conservative treatment, which insures to them the largest 
possible return in wood and money. But even the private forests are under the supervision of 
the State authorities, and though the private owner may use his forest very much as he pleases he 
can in no way devastate or seriously injure it. Clearing requires a permit, also a complete clear- 
ing cut, which latter is permitted only if the owner guarantees the reforestation of the denuded 
area within a given time. Bare and neglected spots in forests must be restocked, and failure of 
private owners to comply with the forest rules and laws leads to temporary management of the 
forest by the State authorities, such management never to continue less than ten years. Of the 
State forests there are about 93 per cent timber forest with a rotation of eighty to one hundred 
and twenty years and only 7 per cent coppice and standard coppice intended to produce tanbark 
and firewood. Of the corporation forests about 83 per cent are timber forest, so that of all tlie 
forests under State management about 85 per cent are timber forest managed on long rotations 
and furnishing large returns. 

Of the State forests, 21 per cent are hardwoods, with little or no conifers; 30 per cent are 
mixed forests, hardwoods, and conifers in about equal parts; 49 per cent are coniferous forests, 
the bulk being stocked with spruce and fir, while only about 4 per cent of the total is stocked with 
pine alone. 

iFull and accurate statistics existing only for the State forests, and, as far as the annual cut 
is concerned, for corporation forests, the following figures apply only to about 60 per cent of the 
forests of the country. 

The cut for 1894 was in— 



A. From timber forests : 

Main crop 

Thinnings 

Stumps 

li. From coppice and standard coppice: 
Main crop 



State forests. Corporat 



Cathie feet. 

11, 100, GOO 

4, 500, 000 

150, 000 



Cubic feet. 

29. 100, 000 

0, 800, 000 

330, 000 

7, 600, 000 
120, 000 
50, 000 



GERMAN FOREST MANAGEMENT — BADEN. 



235 



This same cut per acre of total forest area Is — 

Timljcr forest : Cnbic feet. 

State 74 

Corporation 71 

Coppice and standard coppice : 

State 53 

Corporation 66 

This enormous yield of nearly 64 million cubic feet of wood Baden has obtained from this 
small area for many years without in the least decreasing the amount of standing timber or wood 
capital. In the State forest the cut per acre since 1867 has never been less than 57 cubic feet per 
year, or since 1885 has never fallen below 71 cubic feet, while twice since 1870 it has been over. 85 
cubic feet per acre and year. 

Of the total of nearly 64 million cubic feet, 19,200,000 cubic feet are timber and other wood 
not sold as fire or cord wood, and 29,100,000 cubic feet are cord wood over 3 inches. 

The forests of Baden are generally well located, and the State has long realized the great 
importance of good highways, so that the prices for timber are generally good and the income 
from the woods correspondingly high. 

The following prices in the woods were obtained in 1894: 

For round timber long lengths and saw logs (per cubic foot) : 

Oak $0.16 to $0.39 

Beech .15 

Ash and maple .24 

Birch .08 

Alder 

Other hardwoods 

Conifers, long stems 07 to 

Conifers, saw logs 11 to 

Conifers, rail way ties 

For cord wood (per cord) : 

Beech , 6. 50 to 

Oali 5. 80 to 10. 80 

Other hardwoods 6. 30 to 7.80 

Conifers 4. 00 to 4.80 

The financial results in the State forests were as follows : 
For the year 1894— 

Total income , 

Total expenses 

Net income 

Or per acre of forest-stocked area — 

Gross income $5. 82, or 100 per cent 

Expenses 2. 69, or 46. 2 per cent 

Net income : 3. 13, or 53. 8 per cent 

How steadily this handsome revenue has been received may be inferred from the fact that 
during the twenty-eight years ending 1894 the gross income has never been below $4.24 jier acre; 
that for thirteen out of the twenty-eight years it varied between $4.24 and $5 ; that twelve years 
it was between $5 and $6, and three years above $6 per acre. 

The following figures show this relation for the period 1881 to 1894 : 

Production and cost per acre afforested area. 



.23 
.16 
.13 
.14 



8.40 



$1, 337, 000 
618, 000 
719,000 



Year. 


Cut. 


Annual 
income 
(gross). 


Annual 
expense. 


■ Annual 

net 


The ex- 
pense is 
of the 




Cuhicfeet. 
59 
62 
67 
07 
71 
74 
85 
75 
76 
80 
74 
73 
72 
73 


$4.08 
4.41 
4.80 
4.87 
5.15 
5.23 
.5.33 
5.16 
6.48 
5.85 
5.65 
5.73 
6.07 
5.82 


$2.13 
2.17 
2.24 
2.30 
2.34 
2.47 
2.60 
2. .50 
2.59 
2.60 
2.58 
2.65 
2.64 
2.69 


$1.94 
2.24 
2.55 
2.57 
2.80 
2.76 
2.73 
2.65 
2.88 
3.25 
3.06 
3.08 
3.42 
3.13 


Per cent. 
52 
49 
47 
47 
45 
47 
49 
49 
47 
44 
46 
46 
43 
46 




1883 






1SS6 


1887 




1889 


1890... 




18S2 


1893 


1891 





236 FORESTRY mVESTIGATIONS V. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

Considering the fact that these forests, in the aggregate only about as large as ten townships, 
are scattered over considerable area, and thus their protection and management is rendered much 
more costly than if in more compact form, these results are certainly most remarkable. 

Of the expenses, those of special interest are: 

Logging (generally) $221,000 

Administration 132,000 

Protection 54,000 

Eoada, new and repair 77, 000 

Sowing, planting, etc 42, 000 

As stated before, wherever the forest is cut, reforestation is at once begun. As in other 
States, part of this is carried on by the process of natural regeneration, where the old trees are 
never entirely removed until they have been made to seed the ground, but iiart is also done by 
artificial sowing and planting. In 1894 about 125 acres were seeded anew; G5 acres were seeded 
to correct failures of former years; 7G0 acres were planted for the first time, and about 850 acres 
of former failures were corrected. 

The work of seeding costs $11.95 per acre, the planting $11,43 per acre, which shows that it 
is not by a penny-wise and pound-foolish system of retrenchment that the most extraordinary 
results of the Baden forest management are attained. 

ALSACE AND LOERATNB. 

These two small provinces, formerly under French rule, have an area of about 3,600,000 acres 
and a population of about 1,500,000, and are under the Imperial Government. The existing forest 
laws of these provinces were left in force on their transfer to Germany, so that now, as in former 
times, the French "code forestier" of 1827 and some subsequent dates decide in all affairs 
concerning the forests. The laws in the main are like those of Baden; they restrict the right 
of the private owner to a proper use of the forest and forbid all devastation ; any clearing requires 
a State permit, and with regard to protection against flre, insects, etc., they are subject to the 
ordinary forest police regulations. As in Baden, the forests of corporations are managed by State 
authorities, so that a well-planned forestry system applies to all forests except those of iirivate 
owners, and even these are under rigid supervision and partial control. 

The total area covered by forest is 444,466 hectares, or about 1,100,000 acres, forming about 
30 per cent of the entire land surface. Of this forest area there belong to the State 340,000 
acres, or 31 i>er cent; villages and towns, 490,000 acres, or 45 per cent; private owners, 220,000 
acres, or 20 per cent. Besides these there are about 40,000 acres of land belonging jointly to the 
State and villages and 6,000 acres belonging to corporations other than municiiialities. 

Since all forests, except those of private owners, are under the management of the State 
forest authorities, fully 80 per cent of the forests of these provinces are in most excellent condition. 
Though the exact proportion has not been ascertained, it may be said that about 60 per cent of 
the forests are hardwoods, largely beech and oak, and only 40 per cent conifers. 

The total cut for 1891 was — 

Cable feet. 

For State forests 21,400,000 

For corporation 33,000,000 

Total 54,400,000 

of which about 17,500,000 cubic feet was nutzholz, or timber not sold as cord wood or firewood. 
Of the 21,000,000 cubic feet of wood cut in the State forests there were in 1891: 



Kind of wood. 


Timber 
(nutzholz). 


Corel and 

otber 
firewood. 


Total of 
wood. 


Per cent 

of total 

cut. 


Oak 


CuMcfeet. 

i.euo, 000 

800, 000 
5, 500, 000 


Cubic feet, 
2, 100, 000 
8, 300, 000 
2, 700, 000 


Cubic feet. 
3, 700, 000 
9, 100, 000 
8, 200, 000 


18 
43 
39 




Conifers 





GERMAN FOREST MANAGEMENT — ALSACE-LORRAINE. 



237 



Tlie aveiage price per cubic foot was : 

For timber or work wood — Cents. 

Oat : , 17 

Beech 11 

Conifers , 8. 5 

For firewood- 
Oak 5.5 

Beech 6.7 

Conifers 4.2 

Oil the whole the State received 7.2 cents per cubic foot for all its timber and firewood. 
Among the improvements made during the year the items of roadmaking and reforestation are 
most conspicuous. 

In the State forests alone about 1,500 acres were seeded, generally at a cost of $2 to $3 per 
acre, the lowest being GO cents; while in few cases the cost exceeded $4 i^er acre. About 3,200 
acres were planted, 1,280 acres for the first time, the rest being corrections of former failures. 
Planting largely with hardwoods cost on an average about $5.50 jier acre. Eoadmakiug is 
vigorously pursued, as much of the laud is quite rough, and wellplanued, permanent, macadamized 
roads have proven to be among the best investments. In some of the districts forest railways 
have also been constructed. 

The final results during 1891 were as follows: 

Income from wood $1,523,000 

Other iiroducts 22,000 

Chase 15,000 

Total 1,560,000 

Of this $54,000 is figured for wood, which was given to persons holding servitude rights. 
The expenses were : 

Running expenses — 

Central forest bureau $26,000 

Obeifoersters 97,000 

Guards ...'. 116,000 

Logging 231,000 

Roadmaking , 47, 000 

P4anting, sowing, drainage, etc 47, 000 

Other running expenses 128, 000 

Permanent expenses 60,000 

Total expenses 752,000 

Real gross income 1, 522, 000 

Net income 770,000 

The following figures present the course of these relations for the decade ending 1891: 



Financial results for the State forests in Alsace-Lorraine. 



Tear. 


Gross in- 


Cut per acre and 
year. 


Per acre of total area. 


Price of 
wood per 

cubic 

foot. 


Wood 
over 3 
inches. 


Total. 


Gross in- 
come. 


Ex- 
penses. 


Net in- 




$1. 337, 000 
1.370,000 
1.429,000 
],:i(l 1.000 
1,284,000 
1, 308, 000 
1,335,000 
1,371,000 
1.477,000 
1, 522, 000 


Cubicfeet. 
43 
42 
45 
45 
45 
48 
45 
40 
49 
46 


Cubicfeet. 
55 
55 
01 
59 
59 
03 
57 
58 
01 
50 


$3.7" 
3.86 
4.03 
3 67 
3.02 
3.07 
3.74 
3.84 
4.12 
4.24 


$2.20 
2.04 
2.04 
2.05 
2.01 
2.06 
1.98 
2.08 
2.00 
2.09 


$1.55 
1.81 
1.97 
1.61 
1.59 
1.59 
1.74 
1.74 
2.04 
2.12 


Cents. 
6.1 
6.5 
6.2 
5.8 
5.7 
5.5 

e.o 

0.2 
6.5 
7.1 






1885 




1888 . . ... 






1891 



238 FORESTKY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

The net income, in spite of large yields in wood material and a fairly good market, is com- 
paratively small, thougli sliglitly improving. In 1886, when this income was still lower, a special 
investigation was undertaken, to set forth the reasons of this small net revenue and to suggest 
improvement. All oberfoersters of note contributed their opinions, and on the whole good results 
seem to have come from their suggestions for improvement. The chief trouble evidently lies in 
the great proportion of hardwoods, which leads to a large production of firewood and a small 
proportion of timber or work wood. Thus 66 per cent of all oak, 91 jjer cent of all beech, and 83 
per cent of all other hardwoods had to be sold as cord and fire wood, briugiug generally about 5 
cents per cubic foot solid, or about $5 per cord, while for the coniferous woods only 36 per cent 
has to be sacrificed as cord wood, the rest being sold as timber for just twice the amount obtained 
for firewood. 

This condition of affairs is materially aggravated by the general use of coal as fuel and the 
rejection of beech as tie timber on railways, etc. This condition of affairs iu Alsace-Lorraine is of 
great interest in considering the forest conditions of the United States. It shows evidently that 
it is the coniferous timbers which must be looked to as the important ones, and that even large 
supplies of hardwoods can not be expected to replace such stai^les as white pine or si^ruce. 

Methods of German Forest Management. 

The following brief description of the methods of German forest management, by which the 
results described have been attained, was originally prepared in connection with an exhibit at the 
World's Fair, which the chief of the Division of Forestry collected and installed upon the invita- 
tion and at the expense of the German Government, and is mainly reprinted with additions from 
his annual report for 1893. The description having been based upon the objects exhibited no 
attempt has been made to alter the form. 

MAP WORK AND FOREST DISTRICTING. 

The first requirement in the management of any property is that all its conditions should be 
known and recorded; hence a topographic survey of the forest district to be placed under man- 
agement is the first requisite. Such survey refers not only to the boundaries and tojiographical 
features of the district itself, but also to the surroundings, especially Avith reference to connections 
with markets. Finally, for government forests, the geographical position of the forest areas in 
general should be grouxjed according to ownership. Maps of the latter description were exhibited 
from the Governments of Bavaria and of Wurttemberg. 

These show in three different colors the forest areas belonging to the Government, to commu- 
nities and institutions, and to private owners. From these it could be seen not only that the three 
classes of projirietors share about equally in the ownership of the forest area, but that the 
Government owns mainly the forests on the mountains, where forest management must be carried 
on not for profit, but for indirect benefits in the preservation of favorable soil and water conditions, 
which therefore makes the jjermanent, well-organized management "by and for the people" 
necessary. Contrary to the notion to which currency is so often given in the United States, the 
various governments of Germany do not own more than 35 per cent, exercising partial control (so 
as to prevent destruction and waste) over only 15 per cent in the hands of communities and 
institutions, and leaving the balance of 50 per cent of the forest area in private hands almost 
entirely without restriction. 

Sometimes the contours of the country are also indicated on the maps, which serve the useful 
economic purpose of permitting ready reference of the forest areas to the topography. As an 
instance of such work there was shown a relief map of Hesse. On this the forest areas were 
indicated iu green color. 

For the sake of orderly administration, the whole country is separated into forest divisions or 
inspections (sometimes both), each of which forms a separate unit of administration. 

It is to be understood that we are now speaking only of the Government forests, which are 
under a uniform general administration. 

The administration of the Government forests is usually assigned either to the finance 



GERMAN FOREST MANAGEMENT — SURVEY. 239 

department (as iu Bavaria) or to the department of agriculture and forestry (as in Prussia), -with 
one director and council directly in charge under the supervision of the minister or secretary. 
The position of the director (Oberlandforstmeister) corresponds somewhat to that of our Com- 
missioner of the General Land Oflice, except that, an extensive technical knowledge being needed 
in the position, the incumbent is promoted through all positions from the lower grades. Again, 
each forest division is placed under a separate administrative body consisting of an administrator 
(Oberforstmeister) with a council of forest inspectors (Forstmeister), each of whom has supervision 
of a number of the final units of administration, the forest districts (Oberfoersterei, Forstamt). 
The district officer (Oberfoerster, Eevierfoerster, etc.), with a number of assistants, rangers 
(Foerster), and guards (Schutzbeamte), is then the manager and executive officer in the forest 
itself, while the higher supervising and inspecting officials are located at the seats of government. 

SURATEY OP THE FOREST DISTRICT. 

The survey of each forest district is carried out to the utmost minutiae. 

In Prussia the maps of the districts are made on the scale of 1 : 5,000 iu portfolio sheets, repre- 
senting a careful survey by theodolite of the boundaries of the district, the i)ermanent differences 
of soil and occupancy (roads, waters, fields, meadows, moors, etc.), and the division of the district 
into smaller units of management. This kind of map, of which only three copies are made, is 
then, for purj)oses of use iu daily routine, reduced to a scale of 1 : 25,000 on one sheet, and ininted. 
The first matter of interest that strikes us on these blank or base majis is the division lines by 
which the district is divided into parcels or compartments. In the plain these lines divide the 
district into regular oblong compartments (Jagen) of about CO to 75 acres each, with sides of 100 
and 200 yards, respectively, separated by openings or avenues which we may call "rides" (Gestell, 
Schneisse), so that the whole makes the appearance very much like tlie map of an American city 
regularly divided into blocks. The rides (from 8 to 40 rods wide) running east and west and north, 
and south are lettered, the former, broader ones (main avenues) with capital letters, the latter 
(side avenues) with small letters, while the compartments are numbered. In the forest itself at 
each corner a monument of wood or stone indicates the letters of the rides and numbers of the 
comj)artments, rendering it easy to find one's way or direct any laborer to any i^lace in the forest. 
The rides are often used as roads and serve also the purpose of checking fires, etc. 

In the hill and mountain districts this regular division becomes impracticable and the lines of 
compartments conform to the contour, while the opening of the avenues is restricted to those 
which can be readily transformed into roads; roads, indeed, determining the division lines 
wherever practicable. 

In hill or mountain districts topographic or contour maps become necessary, especially for the 
purpose of rational road construction, a matter on which in modern times great stress is laid and 
to whicli we shall refer later on more in detail. Such contour maps are sometimes executed in 
papier-mache or gypsum models for readier reference. 

PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT. 

The fundamental principles upon which the German Government forests and most of the 
communal and private forests are managed is briefly expressed in the idea that the forest growth 
is to be treated as a crop to be reproduced as soon as harvested, involving continuity of crops. 
To carry this principle into effect most advantageously the management must take care to husband 
the natural forces and conditions upon which thrifty forest growth relies, which leads to the 
second principle, that of highest efficiency of crops, or the two leading principles combined, to 
produce the largest amounts of material (or revenue) in the shortest time without impairing the 
condition and capacity for reproduction of the forest, perpetuating valuable forest growth wher- 
ever this is the best crop or where soil conditions make a forest cover desirable. In government 
forests in addition the financial principle prevails of treating the forest as a permanently invested 
capital, from which only the interest is to be used, making the amount harvested or the revenue 
derived to be as nearly alike from year to year or from period to period, and as nearly correspond- 
ing to the annual accretion, as it is possible to make them. 



240 FOEESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

The present Oberlaudforstmeister, or director, of the Prussian forest department uses the 
following language in laying down the principles upon which the Government manages its forests: 

The Prussian State forest admiuistratiou does not accede to the iiriuciples of a coutinuons highest soil reut 
based upon compound interest calculations, hut helieves, in contradistinction to private forest management, that it 
can not avoid the ohligation in the management of the State forests of keei)ing in view the welfare of the whole 
community of citizens, and therein tating into consideration the need for continued supply of wood and other forest 
products as well as the other objects to which in so many directions the forest is subservient. The administration 
does not consider itself entitled to pursue a one-sided financial policy, least of all to submit the Government forests 
to a pure money- mating management strictly based on capital and interest calculations, hut considers it its duty to 
so manao-e the forests as a patrimony belonging to the whole nation that the present generation may be benelited by 
the highest possible usufruct in satisfying its wants and deriving the protection which the forest renders, and that 
to future generations may be secured at least as large usufruct of the same kind. 

To carry out these principles the intimate knowledge of the conditions of the property, 
referred to above, is necessary and is obtained by a careful forest survey as a basis for a systematic 
administration and forest regulation. 

These data of this forest survey are not only recorded in writing but such as can be readily 
noted are finally placed upon the blank maps described above, together with the results of the 
forest regulation described further on, so that the manager can readily overlook the details of his 
district and the propositions for its management.' This information — after further subdivision of 
the compartments where needed on account of differences in soil conditions or growth— is given by 
means of different colors, difference in shade, numbers, figures, marks, and signs. These maps, 
which are prepared after a most painstaking forest survey, and which we may call "manager's 
map" (Plate XXXII), show at a glance not only the nature of soil conditions and what the prin- 
cipal kind of timber and its admixtures are in each compartment or subdivision, but also how old 
the growth; whether it is to be treated as a coppice, standard coppice, or timber forest; at what 
period in the rotation it is to be cut, and such notes as the manager himself may add from year 
to year, as, for instance, the yearly fellings, plantings, movable nurseries, new road projects, etc. 

One of the most instructive exhibits in this direction was that showing the changes in Timlitz 
forest. Saxony. The map of the district In 1822 presented about the condition of one of our 
mismanaged Michigan forests of pine and hard woods mixed, from which all the good timber had 
been culled, leaving it to inferior kinds with few groups of straggling pines and more valuable 
hard woods, without symmetry or system in the distribution of kinds or age classes. At the same 
time a map was constructed showing ideally how the forest was to look after eighty years' well- 
planned management. We can then follow in the maps made every ten or twenty years the 
changes in appearance under the hand of the forester. During the management new information 
and experience have dictated modifications of the original working plan, giving rise to a new 
manager's map, the approach to which appearing in the timber map for 1SS5 leaves no doubt that 
at the end of the period of regulation we will have a well-grown pine forest, with deciduous trees 
mixed in or confined to the more suitable situations, so disposed over the area that annually or 
periodically the same amount, or nearly so, of valuable material can be harvested. 

The painstaking methods of surveying, describing, measuring, calculating, x^lanning, book- 
keeping, and repeated revising of all the work from decade to decade were shown in the regulation 
work of the district of Hinternah, Prussia, contained in six large folio volumes of manuscript, 
continued from the year 1822 to the last revision in 1890. We can only briefly indicate what this 
work involves, which was briefly summarized in the following exhibit : 

FoKEST Regulation. 

PROGRESS OF WORK REQUIRED TO BRING FOREST AREAS UNDER RATIONAL FOREST MANAGEMENT. 

I. Geodetic and topographic surrey and mapping. 
II. Forest survey in connection with I, noting all areas distinguished by quality of soil, composition, and age of 
timber; general description of forest conditions, bf climatic conditions, of surrounding conditions, of 
possible dangers, of market conditions, means of transportation, etc. 

' Each State government pursues somewhat different methods of mapping. Sometimes two sets of maps are 
made, one to show the conditions, which might then be called a timber map, the other to show the working plan; 
but these are now mostlv combined into one. 



GERMAN FOREST MANAGEMENT — FOREST REGULATION. 241 

III. Forest diHHcling. Division of forest into parcels or lots and aggregation of lots into blocks and ranges. In the 

plain, rectangular lots, divided by cleared lines called rides (Gestell), are customary ; in hilly and mountainous 
country division lines follow the coutiguration of soil. Differences of soil or character of growth within lots 
give rise to formation of sublets. 

IV. Forest yield valuation (assessment). Ascertaining amounts of timber standing, rate of growth on various sites, 

determining capability of production and future yield in material and money. 
V. Determining plan of management (working plans). General plan for all time; special plans for period of ten to 
twenty years. Determining length of rotation ; amounts annually to be cut, designating lots to be cut, 
with a view to obtaining favorable distribution of age classes; thinnings to be made; methods to-be used 
in felling and cultures. 

METHODS OF FOREST REGULATION. 

Ill Prussia it was Fredericli the Great who first ordered a regulated admiuistratiou of the 
Government forests soon after the beginuiug of his reign. The first simple prescriptions of 
dividing the forests into equal areas and cutting every year a proportionate area were followed up 
with more elaborate ordinances, having in view a closer equalization of the amounts of material 
harvested and revenues obtained, besides other considerations of management for continuity, until 
finally the basis for present methods of regulation was reached in the ordinance of 1836, since 
modified in its details, under which " the preservation, revision, and perfection of the work of 
forest valuation and regulation " is carried on. 

The modus operandi, similar in principle in all Government forest administrations, is about as 
follows : 

Let us assume that the Government has purchased ' a new forest district, comprising, say, 
10,000 acres, the average size of the existing districts. The necessary surveys and blank maps, 
as explained, have been made and the boundaries carefully established in the field, the division 
into compartments or parcels, larger or smaller according to the need of a more or less intensive 
management, have been noted on the maps and marked on the ground (the avenues perhaps 
partially opened), and for the sake of satisfactory administration a number of the parcels have 
been combined into subdistricts, "blocks," or ranges; and thus the first — purely geometrical — 
basis for a rational administration has been established. Now the arithmetical basis is to be 
ascertained. For this, in the first place, a general description of the district in its present 
condition is desirable, parts of which, however, can be furnished only after the more thorough 
measurements described later. Such a description recites all needful knowledge regarding the 
extent, the manner of division, the boundaries, and the legal rights. Next follows a description 
in general terms of topography, climate, and soil conditions, and of the forest growth, being a 
condensation of the special description by parcels. The manner of treatment hitherto, the market 
conditions, current market prices, and usual wages are noted. Then, after recital of the processes 
and methods by which the information in the following detail work has been obtained, the principles 
adopted for the management and its motivation are stated, forming a general guide for the manager 
for all time. 

These principles are formulated by a commission after suflicient general knowledge of the 
condition of the district is obtained. In this important part of the general description not only 
the territorial partition of the district into compartments and blocks or ranges is determined, and 
reasons given for it, but also the system of management for each block or parts of blocks, whether 

' Prices for forest soil vary, of course, according to their location and condition, just as in our countrv. In 1849 
Bavaria sold 27,000 acres of her State forests at $68 per acre. In Prussia the Government has lately (1881-1887) paid 
prices ranging from $.5 to $60 per acre, and for a round 70,000 acres the price per acre was $21 average. These were 
mostly devastated waste lands in the northern plain. In Thuringia, where prices for wood and land are higher the 
price for forest land is from $20 to $60 and as high as $80. These prices do not, of course, include any timber "rowth 
the value of which, if present, is calculated according to well-known careful methods of dcteruiining "expectation 
values." According to a calculation by Dr. J. Lehr, based on the not income as representing interest at a 3 per cent 
rate, and assuming a ninety-year rotation of the forest growth for the entire German Empire, the forest land was 
worth $25 per acre and the wood ou it $156 per acre. 

H. Doc. 181 10 



242 FOEESTEY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTUEE. 

coppice, standard coppice, timber forest, etc.,' and the lengtli of rotation — i. e., the time within 
which a block is to be cut over and reproduced; furthermore, the principles according to which 
the fellings are to progress, reproduction is to be secured, thinnings are to be made, the annual 
yield to be expected, and the time within which the forest is to be brought into a regular system- 
atic order of management — in short, all the general framework of the management as far as 
determining a set jiolicy into which the special working i^lans should lit. Before this report can 
be made final, however, the work of the valuator or examiner must have proceeded to some extent. 

VALUATION WORK. 

The valuator or estimator, upon whose work as a basis the general and special working plans 
depend, begins by examining and describing briefly the conditions of the soil, its productive 
capacity, and the kind and appearance of the growth in each compartment (or subparcel, if con- 
ditions of growth or soil make such subdivision desirable). In the description the dominating 
kind of timber, or, if mixed in equal proportions, that upon which the management is to be promi- 

' Note.— Timber forest (Hochwald, high forest) is a forest in wliich trees are allowed to grow to maturity, and 
reproduction is effected either by natural seeding from the old tfiowth in various ways, or by planting or sowing 
after removal of the old growth ; it is usually managed in rotations of 70 to 120 years. 

Coppice (Niederwald, low forest) is a forest iu which -reproduction is expected by sprouts from the stumps; 
this is usually managed in rotations of 10 to 40 years. 

Standard coppice (Mittelwald, middle forest) is a combination of the two former, the standards being allowed 
to grow to maturity .and reproduction being secured both by seed and sprouting. 

Determining the rotation. — Our friends who are attempting to bring about a more rational treatment of our 
forests have often a mistaken notion as to when timber should be cut, when it is ready for the harvest. This can 
not be determined by any set period, as iu the ripening of fruit iu agriculture, or by any more or less defined age, 
much less by any diameter measure. The determination of the " felling age" (Haubarkeitsaltcr) or of the length of 
"rotation" (Umtrieb) depends on the use to which the crop is to be put, the manner iu which it is to be reproduced, 
and the amount of material that can be produced, or the amount of jirofit that can be derived from it. This 
determination is one of the most difficult, requiring both careful iinancial calculation and knowledge of forest 
technique. 

The " silvicultural rotation" is that which considers mainly tlie forest technique, being the time when perfect 
natural reproduction is most surely attainable — i. e., fullest seed production iu timber forest, highest sprouting 
capacity in coppice forest; or when preservation of the productive capacity of the soil, avoidance of damage from 
windfalls, diseases, etc., are uppermost considerations. These considerations of course also influence in part the 
determination of any of the following rotations, which we may call " economic rotations." 

The "rotation of greatest material production" is that which allows the forest to grow as long as the average 
annual accretion is at a maximum. This differs of course with species, climate, soil, etc. If for the mass of 
material we substitute its money value and strive to so arrange that the time of rotation coincides with the largest 
money returns, we have a "financial rotation." 

Various points of view lead to different kinds of financial rotations: 

"Rotation of the highest harvest value," or "technical rotation," which attempts to produce certain desired 
sizes and qualities iu largest quantity with a view of obtaining thereby the largest money return for the croji under 
the circumstances (mauageraent for telegraph poles, fence posts, osier holts, t.an-o.ak coppice). 

"Rotation of the highest forest revenue," when the growth is to be harvested at the time of its maximum average 
annual net money value; this time is iufluenced both by the amount of material aud the price paid for better sizes 
and quality of wood. In this rotation no regard is paid to the original capital invested in the soil ; when this latter 
factor is introduced into the calculation we arrive at the true "financial rotation" or "rotation of the highest soil 
(or ground) rent," iu which the forest is to be cut at a time when the capital invested in soil, stock, and management 
furnishes the highest interest rate. This capital, as far as the soil is concerned, may be represented by its actual 
cost or by its market value, or else by its capacity for production (Bodenorwartungswerth; soil-expectation value), 
which is found by adding the values of expected returns at harvest discounted to the present time and deducting 
the expenses incurred up to the time of harvest, similarly discounted. 

To determine this value experience tables must give the data. Local conditions and prices and the rate of 
interest applied of course influence the length of the financial rotation. It is shortest for a firewood management 
(in Germany, say 60 to 70 years), for spruce and pine at an interest rate of 2 to 3 per cent a rotation of 70 to 90 years, 
with oak 120 years, appear as profitable rotations; where small sizes, mining timber, posts, poles, etc., are bringing 
good prices, the most profitable financial rotation may be shorter. It stands to reason that the length of this rotation, 
as well as of all others, can be only approximately calculated. The forestry literature of Germany is most prolific 
just now with regard to determining financial rotations, and the highest mathematical skill is employed -in the 
discussion. 

Growth (Bestand, stand) is here aud further on used iu the collective sense of the word to denote an aggregate 
of trees, for which also the word "stand" may be employed. 



GERMAN FOREST MANAGEMENT — REGULATING A FOREST. 



243 



nently based, is named first, aud the average age of the growth with special reference to the 
dominating timber is ascertained for the purpose of ranging the parcel into an "age class," which 
comprises usually twenty years, so that the growth of 1 to 20, 21 to 40, 41 to 60 years, etc., form 
each an age class or period. The density of the growth aud larger openings devoid of tree growth 
are specially noted. The valuator at the same time is expected to form, from general appearances, 
au opinion as to the best treatment of each parcel in the near future, aud note it, and especially 
whether the growth is to be cut during an earlier or later xJeriod than its age would warrant, 
considering the likelihood of its thrifty or its unsatisfactory growth. He also estimates the amounts 
to be takeu out in thinnings for the next twenty years. 

With this information established a table may be constructed, in which the area of each parcel 
is entered, according to its average age or "age class," modified by considerations of ijroductive 
capacity, and from this a "timber map" is made, showing the present conditions of the forest, 
the kind of dominating timber in each parcel being denoted by a color, intermixed timbers by 
signs, and the age by the shade of the color in 4, 5, or 6 gradations, according to the number of age 
classes, as shown in the accompanying ideal map. 

ARRANGEMENT OF AGE CLASSES. 



Now follows the determination of the future arrangement of age classes, the object of which 
is to have, when the forest is regulated, in each period of the rotation an ap])roximately equal or 
equally producing area to be cut. It therefore becomes necessary to shift the distribution of age 
classes, in order to attain the equality of the sum of areas in each period. lu addition to the mere 
equalization of areas, there are several other considerations guiding the valuator in arranging the 
age classes. The oldest timber, as well as that which for some reason has ceased to make 
satisfactory growth, is of course to be cut first; hence the conditions of these areas are more 
sijecially examined regarding health, density of cover, soil, vigor, etc. In coniferous growths, 
especially in the plain, the danger from windfalls, if one parcel is cut and thereby the other 
exposed to the prevailing storms, necessitates such an arrangement in the location of the fellings 
(or age classes) that the removal of an old growth will leave behind it a young growth which is 
less liable to be thrown. This local distribution of the age classes by which, in the direction of 
the ijrevailing winds, no two neighboring growths are assigned to the same period is also desirable 
from other considerations. By avoiding a series of extensive fellings side by side the danger from 
fires is lessened aud liability to spread of diseases aud insect attacks, danger from frost, and 
drought to young growths is confined or reduced. Hence an arrangement of the age classes as 
near as possible after the following scheme has been generally adopted, in which the Eoman figures 
denote the age classes, I standing for the oldest growth, containing, if the rotation has been set 
at 100 years, timber of 80 to 100 years, to be felled within the first twenty years; II for that to be 
felled within twenty-one to forty years from the i^resent, and so on; V to be felled in from eighty 
to one hundred years. 





V 


III 


I 


IV 




IV 


II 


V 


III 




m 


I 


IT 


II 




II 


V 


III 


I 



Flu. 23 Dial 



ngement of age classes. 



In mountainous districts, where the topography influences the expense of transportation, 
fellings are ofteu more concentrated and the higher parcels used and reproduced before the lower, 
in order to avoid injury to the young growth by a reversed condition when the material from above 
would have to pass through the young growth below. Various minor points may also dictate 
exceptional arrangement. In coppice growth, needed protection of the stocks against cold north 



244 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



winds makes it desirable to have the fellings progress from the south and west toward north and 
east. Altogether it will have become apparent that the distribution of successive fellings is an 
important matter, not only from the standpoint of regulated administration, but also of successful 
culture. 

In the accompanying map (PI. XXXII) we have attempted to give an idea of the matter on 
which a "manager's map" is constructed, and how ideally in a forest of the plain the arrangement 
of age classes would appear when the forest regulation is perfected. 

YIELD CALCULATIONS. 

When the distribution of areas has been effected in accordance with the considerations set 
forth, the yield calculations are made. These are computed after careful measurements and by 
various methods of calculation, which have been developed after much experience during more 
than one hundred years. 

Sihce the different compartments are cut at difl'erent times, not only the present " stock on 



HUNDRED 
CUBIC FT. 



.Snriinp 
















y 




1 
ir. 

'ine. 

leech . 


F 

P 
















^ 


I 










/ 






H I- 












A/ 


[/ 


V, 


/ 
/ 




>^- 


• 










% 


^1 


/ 




.--: 




..;>-'•• 


,.•••••' 










/ 


.. 




..»'•*" 


\i4 


^:^ 

$, 


?S^ 


r^ 








/ 


• 


y 


^ 


^ 






.h^ 






•/' 


/ 




.<?' 


,.<■••■ 


-J 


°ijij- 


/. 


^? 






^ 






g': 


: '- 


"■'' 















- 130 



Fig. 21. — Diasrani tfhoM 



SO 30 40 50 60 70 80 80 100 

uparativo progress of yields of spruce, fir, pine, anil beeoli oi 



60 

40 



no I20ye:ars 

Ijcst aud poorest site cla 



hand" needs to be measured, but also the accretion for each age class from the present to the 
middle of the period in which it is to be utilized as to total quantity (decreasing in arithmetical 
proportion as the stock on hand is diminished by fellings), when by adding the two quantities and 
dividing the total by the number of years in the rotation or time of regulation the equalized 
yearly quota to be utilized, or "felling budget" (Haubarkeitsertrag or etat), can be calculated. 

The determination of existing stock is made by measuring diameter breast high by means of 
calipers, estimating the average height, and calculating contents with the aid of tables which give 
the corresponding volumes of timber wood (above 3 inches diameter). These tables are constructed 
after numberless detail measurements, from which the " factor of shape" for each species, soil, or 
climate is derived, for, since the tree is neither a cylinder nor a cone, which could be calculated 
from the base and height, the modilication from either of these two forms, the "factor of shape" 
must be determined experimentally in order to arrive at the approximately true contents. In 
very irregular growths and with skillful valuators a simple estimating of contents or the use of 
so-called normal yield or " experience tables," Avhich give for the various species, soils, and climates 
the amount of wood that would normally be produced per acre at a given period, is not excluded. 



•GERMAN FOREST MANAGEMENT — FOREST REGULATION. 



246 



Normal yield table for spruce. 
[ifain growth (exclusive of tliinnings) per acre.] 



lOyeara. 

20 year.s . 

30 vear.s. 

40 years. 

50 years . 

60 years. 

70 years. 

80 years. 

90 years . 
100 years. 
110 years. 
120 years. 



10 years. 

20 years. 

30 years. 

40 years. 

50 years . 

60 years. 

70 years. 

80 years. 

00 years . 
100 years - 
110 years., 
120 years. 



Num- 
ber of 
trees. 



2,591 
1,700 
1,065 



section 
area of 
all trees 
breast 
high. 



Sq. ft. 
49.2 
114.4 
159.5 
188.4 
209.7 
225. 8 
237.1 
244.9 
250.9 
258.4 
264.5 
269.7 



26.1 
77.0 
89.9 
151.8 
180.1 
200. 1 
213. 6 
222.7 
231. :i 
239.2 
246.5 
252.3 



97.4 
105.3 
112.5 
117.7 
121.4 



35.1 
47.2 
59.7 
71.8 



97.7 
103.0 
106.6 



"Wood 

above 3 

inches 

diameter. 



Cu. ft. 
86 
1,101 
2, 603 
4,748 
7,222 
9,209 

10, 582 

11, 655 

12, 655 

13, 299 

13, 971 

14, 586 



1,187 
2,502 
4,176 
6, 220 
. 7, 8(18 
9,295 

10, 339 

11, 125 
11, 740 
12, 269 



Wood, 
total 
mass. 



Ou. ft. 
715 
2,174 
4,204 
6,378 
8,623 
10, 625 
12, 198 
13,213 

14, 043 
14,715 

15, 272 



415 
1,201 
2,460 
4,018 
5,791 
7,851 
9,481 
10, 725 
11,683 

12, 398 
13,013 

13, 585 



Site cla^i III. 



f years. 
) years. 
) years. 



Num. 
her of 
trees. 



) years 

3 years 

) years 

Site clais IV. 



10 years. 

20 years. 

30 years . 

40 years. 

5U years - 

60 years . 

70 years. 

80 'years. 

90 years.. 
100 years. 
110 years. 
120 years. 



3, 164 
1,908 
1,276 



Cross. 






section 
area of 


Aver. 


Wood 


all trees 


height. 




breast 


diameter. 


high. 






Sq. ft. 


Feet. 


Ou. ft. 


18.3 
53.7 


1.9 
6.6 




100 


86.6 


15.7 


472 


130.1 


25.6 


1,244 


154.9 


36.7 


2,574 


171.8 


48.2 


4,004 


185.3 


59.0 


5,219 


196.2 


67.9 


6,220 


205.2 


74.1 


7,093 


214.9 


79.4 


7, 922 


223.2 


88.0 


8,694 


230.6 


85.6 


9,324 


11.3 
36.5 
72.2 


1.0 
4.6 
10.5 






140 


107.9 


18.0 


515 


130.1 


26.2 


1,287 


143.5 


35.1 


2.231 


154.9 


42.6 


3.089 


162.6 


51.5 


3,790 


172. 3 


57.1 


4,361 


181.5 


61.3 


. 4, 848 


187.0 


63.3 


5,305 


191.4 


66.0 


5,720 



1,617 
2,760 
4,247 



9,638 
10, 296 
10, 725 



1,044 
1,830 
2,788 
3,761 
4,519 
5,248 
5,763 
6,249 
6,707 
7,150 



In very regular growths trial areas only are measured. The more usual manner of deter- 
mining the rate of accretion, however, for puriwses of yield calculation, is by felling sample trees 
of each class, dissecting and measuring the accretions of past periods. 

In modern times the exact measurements are mostly confined to the growths that are utilized 
during the first or first two periods of twenty years. 

FELLING BUDGET. 

After all these data for each compartment have Deeii booked, and the yield of branchwood 
and roots — for even these are mostly utilized — as well as the probable amounts to be taken out in 
thinnings, have been estimated and recorded, and after the likelihood of decreased accretion 
in the different compartments has also been determined from measurements and experience, the 
"felling budget" is determined as a sum of the stock on hand and the amount of annual accretion 
multiplied by the time, during which it is allowed to grow, i. e., in the average to the middle of 
the period in which the compartment is placed, divided by the period of rotation. Thus a growth 
of eighty-five years, which showed a stock on hand of 3,825 cubic feet per acre, and hence had an 
average accretion hitherto of 3,825-^-85 = 45 cubic feet per year, which is likely to be reduced on 
account of gradual reduction in stock and other untoward conditions to 30 cubic feet, would yield 
during the first period 3,825 -f 30 x 30 = 4,125 cubic feet. And if the compartment contained 50 acres 
it should be credited in the working plan in the column for the period I with 4,125 x 50 = 206,250 
cubic feet. By adding up the amounts of the yield of all the compartments placed in the first 
period and dividing by 20 (the length of the period) the annual budget which should be felled 
during the ijeriod is found. If, however, it is desired to equalize the fellings more or less through 
a longer period — for instance, the time of rotation — then the amounts in all the periods must be 
summed up, and these sums as nearly as possible equalized by shifting the position of the com- 
partments from one period into another (necessitating always new calculations of the accretion) 
until the equalization in the periodic sums is effected. 

Even then, however, before finally determining the annual budget, a calculation is made to 
see whether the area contains as much timber as it normally should; if more, the budget may be 
increased; if less, a saving must be made in order to bring up the stock on hand to the normal. 
If, for instance, we know from the experience tables that our forest should normally yield 50 cubic 
feet per acre a year in a 100-year rotation, then the normal stock would be 100 x 50-^2=2,500 cubic 



246 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

feet per acre. This is the average amouut of wood pej- acre which we should strive to keep in 
stock in order to get the full benefit of the productive capacity of the soil and insure an equal 
growth and equal annual cut for all time. In reality this ideal is, of course, never reached, but 
this so-called normal forest, conceived in ideal condition, serves as a guide in the working plans, 
and the conception is a most useful and important one. To put it into practice we must either 
save at first on the annual cut until normal condition is attained, or we may increase the cut if 
more old timber than necessary for normal stock is on the ground. Additional reserves may also 
be ijrovided for to avoid any unforeseen shortcomings in the budget due to insect ravages, mis- 
takes in calculations, etc. 

We can not here enter into the details of all the work of the valuator, being satisfied with 
having indicated in general tiie methods pursued. In coppice management, of course, all these 
fine calculations become unnecessary, and the jjeriodical or annual cut is determined by area mainly. 

From the general plan thus elaborated the special plan for the first period or half period of 
the management is worked out iu detail both for fellings, cultures, and other work, road building, 
drainage, etc. This special plan, then, is the basis on which the local manager finally makes out 
the annual i^lans of work, which are submitted for revision and approval to the controlling otficers. 
Thus, Avhile the general and special working plans lay down the general principles, the annual 
lilans, into which enter considerations of immediate needs and financial adjustments, jjermit such 
deviations from the general plans as may appear needful from year to year. Every ten or twelve 
years, or at other stated periods, a careful revision of the whole regulation work is made, in which 
the carefully noted experiences of the manager are utilized to correct and perfect the plans. 

FOREST PROTECTION. 

In this country the greatest danger to the forest, besides the indiscriminate cutting, is to be 
found in fires. How little this scourge of American forests is known in Germany may api^ear 
from the statistics of fires in the Government forests of Prussia (representing 60 per cent of the 
German forest area), 56 per cent of which are coniferous, which show that railroading may be 
carried on without the necessity of extra risks, if i>roper precautions are provided. During the 
years 1882-1891 there had occurred 156 larger conflagrations — 96 from negligence, 53 from ill will, 
3 from lightning, and only 4 from locomotives. Seven years out of ten are without any record of 
fire due to this last cause. 

Prom 1884 to 1887 fires occurred in Prussia on 3,100 acres, but only 1,450 were wholly 
destroyed, i. e., 380 acres per year, or 0.005 per cent of the total area of Government forests. In 
Bavaria during the years 1877-1881 only 0.007 per cent of the forest area was damaged by fire, 
and the loss represented only 0.02 per cent of the forest revenues. During the unusually hot and 
dry summer of 1892 only 49 fires, damaging more or less 5,000 acres, occurred. 

Besides the thorough ijolice organization and the compartment system, which permits not only 
ready iiatrolling but also ready control of any fire, the system of safety strips, described in the 
report of this division for 1892, where a fuller discussion of this subject may be found, prevents 
the spread of fire from locomotives. 

A much more fruitful cause of damage to the cultivated forests of Germany is found in insect 
ravages. The annual expenditures in fighting and preventing these in the Prussian Government 
forests in ordinary times amouut to about $50,000. Caterpillars and beetles eat the leaves, and 
thereby reduce the amount of wood produced and the vitality of the tree; bark beetles follow and 
kill it; borers of all kinds injure the timber. Hence entomology, the study of life habits of the 
injurious insects and the methods of checking their increase, forms part of the forester's work. 

Fungus growth and decay kill the standing tree and injure the cut timber. The study and 
methods of counteracting this injury form, therefore, part of the work of the forester. 

FOREST CROP PRODUCTION OR SILVICULTURE. 

While we liave so far considered mainly the administrative and managerial features of German 
forestry practice, we come now to the most important and truly technical branch of the art, 
namely, the forest crop production or forest culture. This part we may call forestry proper, for 
while the methods of forest regulation, forest utilization, and forest protection, which may be 



GERMAN FOREST MANAGEMENT — SILVICULTURE. 



247 



comprised in tlie one name, "forest economic^," are incidental, and may differ even in principle in 
various countries and conditions, tlie methods of crop production or forest culture, being based 
on tlie natural laws of tlie interrelations of plants to soil and climate, must, at least in principle, 
be alike all over the world. Here pure forestry science finds its application and development. 

These princiiiles have been elucidated more fully in the next chapter. We will, therefore, 
here only briefly restate the more imjiortant ones with some of their applications in German 
practice. 

PLANTING. 

Seemingly the simplest and easiest way of reproducing the crop is that practiced in agricul- 
ture, namely, removing the entire mature crop aud sowing or planting a new crop. But this 
method, wliich has been so largely iiracticed in Europe and admired by our countrymen and 
writers on forestry, has its great drawbacks, which have of late become more aud more apparent, 
and the tendency now is to return more and more to the " natural reproduction." While the 
simplicity of the method of clearing and i)lanting recommends itself for a routine or stereotype 
management, it has not always proved as successful as would be expected. The large clearings 
which the young planted seedlings are unable to iirotect from the drying influences of sun and 




Fig. 25.— Iron dibble used in setting out small pine seedlings. 

wind bring about a desiccation aud deterioration of the forest soil and an enormous increase of insect 
pests, while other dangers in later life from wind and disease have been largely the result of these 
uniform growths. And when it is understood that to secure a desirable stand the plantings must 
be gone over and fail iilaces replanted five, six, and more times, it becomes apparent that the 
method is extremely expensive, and hence the proper treatment of the natural crop with a view 
to its reproduction by natural seeding is the most important part of forest culture. Yet under 
certain conditions, and where no natural crop to manage is found, planting or sowing becomes a 
necessity, aud various methods and tools have been developed to meet various conditions. 

It would exceed the limits of this report to describe these various methods; we can refer to 
only one of the simplest and cheapest with which every year many millions of small 1 or 2 year 
old pine seedlings are set out in soils which do not need or do not admit of preparation by plow 
or spade. The instrument used is an iron dibble (fig. 25); the shoe, with one rounded and one flat 
side, in shape like a half cone, 8 inches long with Si-inch base; the handle, a flve-eighths-inch rod, 
3^ feet long, is screwed into the base of the shoe aud carries a wooden crossbar, by which the 
instrument is handled. The modus operandi is to thrust this iron dibble into the ground; then 
by moving it lightly back and forth to somewhat enlarge the hole and withdraw it; a boy or girl 



248 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

puts the plantlet in the hole to the flat side; the dibble is thrust again into the ground 1 to IJ inches 
back of the first hole somewhat slantingly toward the bottom, and pressed forward to fasten the 
j)lant in its stand ; then by irregular thrusts the last-made hole is obliterated. Two planters with 
a boy, carrying the plants in a mixture of loam and water to keep the roots moist and also heavy 
for better dropping, may set 5,000 plants in a day. 

INTRODUCTION OP EXOTICS — WHITE PINE YIELDS. 

The valuable species of trees indigenous to Germany which are subject to special consideration 
in forest management are but few. The most important forest-forming ones fire 1 pine, 1 spruce, 
1 iir, 1 larch, 1 oak, 1 beech, 1 alder. In addition we find of broad-leaved trees a blue beech, 1 
ash, 3 kinds each of elm, maple, and j)oplar, in some parts a chestnut, and 2 kinds of birch and 
linden, and several willows, together with some 8 or 10 kinds of minor importance, while of 
conifers in certain regions 4 other species of pines are found. Some years ago the attention 
of European foresters was forcibly turned to the richness of the American forest flora, and a 
movement set in to introduce exotic tree species which might be more productive or show better 
qualities than the native. Our white pine, a good-sized section of which was exhibited, had been 
quite extensively planted in the beginning, of this century, and these plantations, some 80 or 90 
years old, are now coming into use. The quality of the wood, however, has not as yet found much 
favor, but the quantity per acre exceeds that of any of the native species. Eecords are extant 
which show, at 70 years of age, a yield of 14,000 cubic feet of wood containing about 70,000 feet 
of lumber B. M. per acre. 

On moderately good forest soil in Saxony a stand 78 years old contained over 400 trees per 
acre, of which three-fourths were white pine, the rest spruce, larch, beech, and oak. Only 5 white 
pine trees were under 70 feet high, the majority over SO. Notwithstanding the crowded position, 
only 45 trees were under 8 inches diameter, the majority over 12 inches, the best 28 inches. The 
total yield was 12,880 cubic feet of wood jier acre, besides the proceeds of previous thinnings. The 
rate of annual accretion in cubic feet of wood for white pine in the last years amounted to 2.5 per 
cent of the total contents of the trees, or about 0.4 cubic foot per tree. Of the trunk wood at 
least 90 per cent could be utilized for lumber, since the shape of these trunks was so nearly 
cylindrical as to be equal in contents to one-half a perfect cylinder of the height and diameter of 
the trees taken breast high. 

A stand 82 years old on poor land produced 12,500 cubic feet of wood, indicating an average 
yield for the eighty-two years of 212 cubic feet of wood per annum, of which about 700 feet of 
lumber B. M. could be calculated. On very poor soil and planted very thick without admixture 
of hard woods it produced trees 24 feet high and 5 inches thick in twenty years; and on fairly 
good soil trees 54 feet high, llj inches thick, in thirty to thirty-five years, excelling in either case 
the native spruce (P. excelsa) both in height and thickness. 

It is also of interest to mention in this connection that a plantation of about 7 acres in the city 
forest of Frankfort-on-the-Main during the eighteen years ending 1881 brought $115 rent per year 
for the privilege of seed collecting alone; failing to produce seed only three out of the eighteen 
years and yielding a maximum of $500 rent during one of the eighteen years; much of the seed 
finding a market in the United States. 

Besides the white pine, the black locust has also for quite a long time found a home in the 
plantations of Europe, but the species which are now propagated in large quantities, having after 
trial shown superior advantages in behavior and growth, are our Pacific coast conifers, the Sitka 
spruce, the Douglas spruce, the Lawsons cypress, and the Port Orford cedar, sections and photo- 
graphs of which, grown in Germany, were exhibited, as well as of black walnut and hickory. The.se 
trees are now used to plant into fail places or openings, in groups or single individuals, and are 
especially prized for their soil-improving qualities and their rapid growth. 

The methods of management for natural reproduction are generally divided into three classes, 
namely, the coppice, when reproduction is expected from the stumps; the standard coppice, when 
part of the growth consists of sprouts from the stump and another part of seedling trees; and the 
timber or high forest, when trees are grown to maturity and, unless harvested and replanted, 
reproduction is effected entirely by natural sowing. 



GERMAN FOKEST MANAGEMENT kSILVICULTURE. ' 249 

COPPICE MANAGEMENT. 

This practice is employed foi- the production of fu-ewood, tanbark, charcoal, and wood of 
small dimeusions, and is mostly applicable only to deciduous trees. The capacity of reproduction 
from the stump is possessed by different species in diflferent degrees, aud depends also on climate 
and soil; shallow soil produces weaker but more numerous shoots thau a deep, rich soil, and a 
mild climate is most favorable to a continuance of the reproductive power. With most trees this 
capacity decreases after the period of greatest height-growth; they should therefore be cut before 
the thirtieth year, in order not to exhaust the stock too much. The oak coppices for tan bark are 
managed in a rotation of from ten to twenty years. Regard to the preservation of reproductivity 
makes it necessary to avoid cutting during heavy frost, to make a smooth cut without severing the 
bark from the stem, and to make it as low as possible, thus reducing liability to injuries of the 
stump and inducing the formation of independent roots by the sprouts. 

It will be found often that on poor and shallow soil trees will cease to thrive, their tops dying. 
In such cases it is a wise policy to cut them down, thus getting new, thrifty shoots, for which the 
larger root system of the old tree can more readily provide. This practice may also be resorted to 
in order to get a quick, straight growth, as sprouts grow more rapidly than seedlings, the increased 
proportion of root to the part above ground giving more favorable conditions of food supply. It 
must not be forgotten, however, that this advantage has to be compensated somewhere else by a 
disadvantage; sprouts, though growing fast in their youth, cease to grow in height at a compara- 
tively early period, and for the production of long timber such practice would be detrimental. 

Eegard to the preservation of favorable soil conditions, which suffer by oft-repeated clearing, 
requires the planting of new stocks where old ones have failed. Mixed growth, as everywhere, 
gives the best result. Oaks, walnut, hickory, chestnut, elm, maples, birch, cherry, linden, catalpa, 
and the locust also, with its root-sprouting habit, can be used for such purpose. 

If when cutting off the sprouts^ at the age of from 10 to 20 years, some trees are left to grow 
to larger size, thus combining the coppice with timber forest, a management results which the 
Germans call " Mittelwald," and which we may call standard coppice management. 

STANDARD COPPICE. 

This is the method of management which in our country deserves most attention by farmers, 
especially in the Western prairie States, where the production of firewood and timber of small 
dimensions is of first importance, while the timber forest, for the production of larger and stronger 
timbers, can alone satisfy the lumber market. The advantages of this method of management, 
combining those of the coppice and of the timber forest, are: 

(1) A larger yield of wood per acre iu a short time. 

(2) A better quality of wood. 

(3) A production of wood of valuable and various dimensions in tlie shortest time witli hardly any additional 

cost. 

(4) The po.s.sibility of giving closer attention to the growth and requirements of single individuals and of 

each species. 

(5) A ready and certain reproduction. 

(6) The possibility of collecting or using for reforestation, in addition to the coppice stoclvs, the seeds of the 

standards. 

The objections to this mode of treatment are the productioii of branches on the standards 
when freed from surrounding growth, and the fact that the standards act more or less injuriously 
on the underwood which they overtop. 

The first objection can be overcome to a certain extent by pruning, and the second by proper 
selection and adjustment of coppice wood and standards. The selection of standards — which 
preferably should be seedlings, as coppice shoots are more likely to deteriorate in later life — must 
be not only from such species as by isolation will grow into more useful timber, but if possible 
from those which have thin foliage, thus causing the least injury by their cover to the underwood. 
The latter should, of course, be taken from those kinds that will best endure shade. Oaks, ashes, 
maples, locust, honey locust, larch, bald cypress, a few birches, and perhaps an occasional aspen, 
answer well for the standards; the selection for such should naturally be from the best-grown 



250 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 

straight trees. The number of standards to be held over for timber depends upon the species 
and upon the amount of undergrowth which the forester desires to secure. The shadier and the 
more numerous the standards the more will the growth of the coppice be suppressed. From a 
first plantation one would naturally be inclined to reserve and hold over all tho well-grown 
valuable saplings. The coppice is, of course, treated as described above. 

As before mentioned, on account of the free enjoyment of light which the standards have 
they not only develop larger diameters, but also furnish quicker-grown wood (which in deciduous 
trees is usually the best) and bear seed earlier, by which the reproduction of the forest from the 
stump is supplemented and assisted. Any failing plantation of mixed growth, consisting of trees 
capable of reproduction by coppice, may be recuperated by cutting the larger part back to the 
stump and reserving only the most promising trees for standards. 

If equally well-grown coppice and standards are desired, a regular distribution of the standards, 
mostly of the light-needing, thin-foliaged kinds, should be made. If prominence is given to the 
production of useful sizes, the standards may be held over in groups and in regularly distributed 
specimens, in which case those of the shade-enduring kinds are best in grouijs. 

THE TIMBBK FOREST. 

In the timber-forest management we may note various methods: The method of selection 
(Plenterwald), in accordance with which only trees of certain size are cut throughout the whole 
forest, and the openings are expected to fill up with an after-growth sown by the remaining trees. 
This method prevailed in former ages, but was finally almost everywhere abandoned because of the 
difflculty of organized administration and control of such an irregular forest containing trees of 
all ages, and because the after growth is apt to progress but slowly with fore-grown trees sur- 
rounding and overshadowing it, or may consist of worthless kinds. Of late a revival of this 
method with various modifications designed to meet the objections is noticeable; the advantage of 
keeping the soil constantly shaded and thereby preserving the soil moisture also recommending 
this method. More uniform growths, more regular distribution of age classes, and a more regu- 
lated administration was possible by various "regeneration methods," by which a certain area — 
a comj)artment — would be taken iu hand and the cutting so systematically directed that not only 
a uniform young growth would spring up through the whole comiiartment, but by the gradual 
'removal of the mother trees light would be given to the young growth as needed for its best 
development. This method (Feinelsehlag) is practiced almost exclusively in the extensive beech 
forests, somewhat in the following manner: 

REGENERATION METHODS. 

In the first place it is necessary to know the period at which a full seed j^ear may be expected. 
This differs according to locality and kind. One or more years before such a seed year is expected 
the hitherto dense crown cover is broken by a preparatory cutting of the interior timber, enough 
being taken out to let in some light, or rather warm sunshine, which favors a fuller development 
of seed, the increased circulatiou of air and light at the same time hastening the decomijosition of 
the leaf-mold and thus forming an acceptable seed bed. 

As soon as the seed has dropped to the soil, and i>erhaps, in the case of acorns and nuts, been 
covered by allowing pigs to run where it has fallen, a second cutting takes place uniformly over 
the area to be regenerated, in order that the seeds may have the best chance for germination — 
air, moisture, and heat to some degree being necessary — and that the seedlings may have a proper 
enjoyment of light for their best development and yet not be exposed too much to the hot rays of 
the sun, which, by producing too rapid evaporation and drying up the needful soil moisture, would 
endanger the tender seedlings. This cutting requires the nicest adjustment, according to the 
state of the soil, climatic conditions, and the requirements of seedlings of different kinds. 

While the beech requires the darkest shade, the pine tribe and the oaks demand more light, 
and should, by the successive cuttings, be early freed from the shade of the mother trees. Beech 
seedlings are more tender, and only by the gradual removal (often protracted through many 
years) of the shelter of the parent trees can they be accustomed to shift for themselves without 



GERMAN FOREST MANAGEMENT — SILVICULTURE. 251 

liability of being killed by frost. The final cutting of the former generation of trees leaves many 
thousand little seedlings closely covering the soil with a dense shade. 

That the method of management must differ according to species and local conditions is 
evident; and in a mixed forest especially are the best skill and judgment of the forester required 
to insure favorable conditions for each kind to be reproduced. It is to be expected that such 
seedlings are rarely satisfactory over the whole area, and that bare places of too large extent must 
be artificially sown or planted. 

Another method is the "management in echelons" (Coulissen, Saumschlag), which consists 
in making the clearings in strips, and awaiting the seeding of the clearing from the neighboring 
growth. It is applicable to species with light seeds, which tlie wind can carry over tbe area to be 
seeded, such as larches, firs, spruces, most pines, etc. 

The cuttings are made as much as possible in an oblong shape, with the longest side at right 
angles to the direction of the prevailing winds. The breadth of the clearing, on which occasional 
reserves of not too spreading crowns may be left, depends of course on the distance to which the 
wind can easily carry the seed which is to cover the cleared area. Observation and experience 
will determine the distance. In Germany, for spruce and pine, this has been found to be twice the 
heigbt of the tree; for larch, five or six times the height; for fir, not more than one shaft's length. 
From 200 to 360 feet is perhaps the range over whicb seeding may be thus expected. One year 
rarely suffices to cover the cleared area with young growth, and it takes longer in proportion to 
the breadth of the cutting. This method is very mucli less certain in its forestal results than the 
next named, and more often requires the helping liand of the planter to fill out bare places left 
uncovered by the natural seeding. But it is the one that seems to interfere least with our present 
habits of lumbering, and with it eventually the first elements of forestry may be introduced into 
lumbering operations. 

To be sure, it requires from three to eight times the area usually brought under operation, but 
instead of going over the whole area every year it may be operated in a number of small camps 
systematically placed along a central road connecting the different camps or cuttings with the mill. 

As a rule the pine forests in Germany are reproduced by artificial plantations, tlie spruce 
forests by either natural or artificial regeneration, or both combined, while the beech forests are 
entirely reproduced as described above, oaks and other hard woods being usually planted, although 
a return to a more extended use of natural reproduction is noticeable. 

IMPROVEMENT CUTTINGS — THINNINGS. 

The principles which underlie the practice of thinning out young growths in order to accel- 
erate their development have been theoretically well developed, but the practice in Germany 
remains behind the theory. The difficulty of disposing of the material taken out in the thinnings 
discourages the practitioner, and the financial value of the operation in the acceleration of the 
remaining crop is not fully appreciated. 

A few results of German practice in thinning may serve to give an indication of its value. 

A natural growth of pine (Scotch) which was thinned when six years old showed an increased 
rate of accretion three times as great as that of the part not thinned, which was also deficient in 
height growth. 

A 50-year-old spruce (Norway) growth, having been twice thinned, showed an average accretion 
22 ijer cent greater than the part not thinned. 

A growth of spruce (natural sowing), slightly mixed with maple, aspen, willow, and ironwood, 
when 15 years old was opened to the poor population to take out firewood; thus one-half of the 
growth for a few years was thinned out irregularly. The part thus thinned eighteen years later 
contained four and one-half times more wood than the undisturbed part; the former contained 
trees of from 1 to 9 inches in diameter and 15 to 65 feet in height; the latter did not produce any 
above 5 inches in diameter and 48 feet in height. 

Another experiment, made upon a pine growth 50 years old, showed that by interlucation the 
rate of growth within eleven years stood three to one and three- fourths in favor of the thinned part. 

Another writer planted Scotch pine 6 feet apart; two years later he planted the same ground 



252 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



to bring the stand to 3 feet apart; he thiuued when fifteen years old, and carefully measured 
contents when twenty years old. Although the plantation was stocked on poor soil, yet the 
average annual accretion was found to be 2.43 cords (Austrian) per acre, a yield "which is 
unexcelled." The writer adds that "if in such growths the number of trees is reduced in the 
fifteenth to twentieth years to 280 trees per acre, the yield in sixty years might equal that 
obtained in one hundred or one hundred and fifty years in the old manner." 

A plantation of j^orway spruce, made with seed, was when thirty-three years old still so dense 
that it was impenetrable; hardly any increase was noticeable and the trees were covered with 
lichens. When thirty-five years old it was thinned, and again, when forty-two years old the 
condition of the growth was such as to make a thinning appear desirable; between the two 
thinnings, within seven years, the accretion had increased by 160 per cent, or 27 per cent yearly 
in the average, and the appearance of the trees had changed for the better. 

A coppice of tanbark oak was thinned when fifteen years old on half the area; when twenty 
years old both parts were cut, and it was found that the thinned part yielded more wood and more 
and better bark than the unthiuned part, and yielded in money 14.5 per cent more, although no 
higher price was asked for the better bark. 

An area of 12 acres was planted, one-half with 2-year-old pine seedlings from the forest, the 
other half with seed. 

Three thinnings were made with the following yield of round firewood (cut to billet length 
and over 2f inches in diameter) and brushwood (less than 2a inches in diameter). 

The planted part yielded at the thinnings: 



10 ye.lrs old 
I') years old 
IS years (tld 

Total 



The sowing was first thinned when 8 years old, yielding: 





When— 


rirewood. 


Brush. 






Cords. 


Cords. 
2.8 1 
3.6 
1.4 


10 veara old 




20 vears old 


3.2 


Total 


3.2 


7.8 





In twenty-four years the total yield, inclusive of thinning, was: 



Planted part 3,495 

Sowed part 1, 998 

la favor of planted part 1, 497 

Thinnings are usually made for the following purposes: 

(1) Improvement cuttings, to improve the composition of the forest and give advantage to the 
better kinds. 

(2) Interlucations, to improve the form and hasten development of young timber. 

(3) Eegeueration cuttings, to produce favorable conditions for seed formation and reproduc- 
tion of the forest. 

(4) Accretion cuttings, to improve rate of diameter growth in older timber. 

Thinnings are to open the crown-cover, giving access to light and air, their object being to 
accelerate decomposition of the litter and turn it into available plant food; to improve the form 
and hasten the development of the remaining growth. The degree of thinning depends on soil, 
species, and age, and is best determined as a i)roportion between the present growth and that 
which is to remain with reference either to crown-cover, mass. Of diameter. 



GERMAN FOREST MANAGEMENT— SILVICULTURE. 



253 



Since it is observed that in the struggle i^r existence among tl;eiudivHlu^ trees there are 
qnite early some trees getting the advantage and becoming dominant, it is infeued that thinnings 

are most effective in the earlier period of the crop. .in^iti^'ition of the trees 

In discussing the degree to which the tl^i""-g;^to be made^^a c a ihc.U on^ 
according to the character of their development is made by German foresters as tollows . 

r Class 1 -Predominant trees with highly developed crowns. 
Class -.-Codominaut trees with tolerably well developed crowns 
Dominant or superior growth, p,^^^ 3._Subdominant trees with normal crowns, but poorly developed and crowdea 

above. , j , , » n 

CUs^ i.-Dominated trees with crowus poorly developed and crowded laterally, 
(a) Crowns wedged in laterally, yet not overtoiiped. 
(6) Crowns compressed, partly overtopped. 
Class .5.— Suppressed trees, entirely overtopped. 

(a) Crowns still having vitality (shade enduring species). 
(6) Crowns dying or dead. 

The following illustration of the appearance of these tree classes will be found serviceable in 
understanding these relations. 



Dominated or inferior growth. 




riG 26.-Trco claSBc: Classification accoraiug to crown doveloi.mcnt. ScUematic^ Class ia.™lomi"-"^^ ^s! 

2 (codominant): Nos.S, 13.18; class 3 (subdomiuant) : Nos.0,U,17, class 4 (opprossed) : Nos.o,7,l-. class (surpres 
5 (suppressed, h) : Nos. 4, 10, 15. 

The degrees of thinning usually resorted to are the following: 

(1) Slight thinning takes out trees of class 5. 

(2) Moderate thinning takes out trees of class 5 and ^h. 

(■3) Severe thinning takes out trees of class 5, 4, and sometimes 6. . ^ , , , .,„,^.i,.,:tv 
Se thne when the'hrst thinning should take place is generally 'If -"ff^f^^^J^f^te 

"^'on'^oodiriXi mild exposures interlucation may take place earliest, because here the 
growth if Ikest and a difference in the development of the different stems is soonest noticeable. 



254 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Light-neediug and quicker-growing kinds show similar conditions to those grown on good soil, 
and here, therefore, early thinniijgs are desirable. In these cases the thinnings have also to be 
repeated oftenest, especially during the period of prevalent height accretion. Absolute rules as 
to the time for iuterlucations and their periodical repetition evidently can not be given. The 
peculiar conditions of each individual case alone can determine this. The golden rule, however, 
is early, often, moderately. The right time for the beginning of these regular and periodical 
iuterlucations is generally considered to have arrived when the natural thinning out before 
mentioned commences and shows the need of the operation. This occurs generally when the 
crop has attained the size of hop poles. At this stage the well marked difference in size of the 
suppressed trees will point them out as having to fall, and there will not be much risk of making 
any gross mistakes. Until the trees have attained their full height the thinning should remain 
moderate. From this time forward it will prove expedient to open out the stock more* freely 
without ever going so far as to thin severely. Within the last few years new and revolutionary 
ideas regarding principles and methods to prevail in thinnings are gaining ground, which we have 
not space here to discuss. 

UNDER-PLANTING. 



All these manipulations experience modifications according to circumstances, diflerent species 
and soil conditions requiring diflerent treatment. One of the most interesting modifications, the 
results of which in a given district were fully exhibited, is the v. Seebach management in beech 
forests. Such a management, which contemplates the production of heavier timber in the shortest 
time, tries to take advantage of the increase in accretion due to an increase of light which is 
secured by severe thinning, and in order to prevent the drying out of the soil by such severe 
thinning a cover of some shady kind is established by sowing or planting. This cover gradually 
dies oft' under the shade of the old timber, the crowns closing again after a number of years. The 
rate of growth in a stand of 70 to 80 years was thereby increased from, 51 cubic feet per acre and 
year to 77 cubic feet per acre and year, while a neighboring stand, otherwise the same but not so 
treated, increased by only 60 cubic feet, distributed over a larger number of trees. 

The same method is ajjplied to the production of heavy oak timber. In tliis case the oak 
growth is thinned out when about 60 years old and "underijlanted" with beech. It may also be 
applied to older growths with advantage, as appears from the following results: 

A stand of oaks 150 to 160 years old in 1846 was thinned to 90 trees per acre, averaging 
37 cubic feet of wood per tree, the cleared space being "underplanted" with beech and spruce. 
In 1887 the oaks, now 190 to 200 years old, of which 59 trees only were left, contained 56 cubic 
feet in the average, thus growing during the last forty years more than one-half as much as 
during the one hundred and fifty to one hundred and sixty years previous to the operation, i. e., 
doubling the rate of growth. In this case, under the lighcfoliaged oaks, some of the beech and 
spruce developed sufBciently to furnish marketable material. 

With Scotch pine it has been found in one case that while the average accretion of a stand 
120 years old under ordinary condition was about 59 cubic feet per acre and year — the yield by 
thinning included — a stand underplanted with beech showed an accretion of 100 cubic feet per 
acre and year, besides much better log sizes and earlier supply of saw timber. 

Translated into money an examjile from Bavaria may be cited as follows: 

On 1 acre of pine 80 years old, underplanted at a cost of $2.85 i)er acre with beech now 40 years old, there 
were found — 





Average 

Yield of anuuS 

wood. accretion 

per acre. 




Gubicft. Cubicft. 
322 40 1 
156 39 1 










478 


79 





Supposing this stand to he left forty years longer, it may be figured that the pine would bring $650 and the 
beech $120; total per acre, $770, of which $49 was yielded in thinnings. White pine without undergrowings is 
expected to produce only $520 per acre when 120 years old. 



GERMAN FOREST MANAGEMENT — ADMINISTRATION. 255 

FORESTERS, FORESTRY EDUCATION, AND FORESTRY LITERATURE. 

To be sure, the highly ehiborate system of forest admiuistratiou and forest management here 
outlined could not be developed or maintained without a special high-grade education of those 
who direct the work. This education is provided for in the most ample manner, and consists not 
only in theoretical studies at schools, academies, and universities, but also in practical studies in 
the forest itself under the guidance of competent and experienced forest managers. 

The course which applicants for positions in the higher administrative forestry service are 
expected to follow, with more or less modification in the different states, may be briefly outlined 
here: 

After ijromotion from college the student goes into the woods for a short period (one-half to 
one year) to acquaint himself, under the guidance of a district manager, with the general features 
of the business he proposes to engage in, and thereby tests his probable fitness for it. He then 
visits for two and one-half or three years a forestry school (called academy when by itself, when 
at a university it is connected with the "faculty" for national economy), where theoretical studies 
with demonstrations in the forest are pursued. 

After examination and promotion the applicant is bound at his own expense to occui)y himself 
for two years at least in studying the practice in various districts, changing from place to place. 
If occupation can be found for him he is employed at small daily wages on some scientific or 
administrative work, always keeping an official diary of his doings and observations, certified to 
by the district manager with whom he stays, and which forms part of his final examination. For 
nine months during this time he must continuously perform all the duties of a lower oflicial — a 
ranger — for a whole or jiart of a range, and sometimes also for a given time certain functions 
of a district manager. Then, after two years of law studies at a university, he enters into a 
close and difficult examination for a position as district manager, lasting eight to ten days. By 
passing this he is placed on the list of eligibles, and has thereby secured a right, enforcible in 
the courts if need be, to a position when a vacancy arises and his name is reached in the order 
of the list. This, in i'russia, may now be within eight or ten years after listing. During the 
interval he may be, and mostly is, employed on daily wages in various sorts of scientific and 
administrative work, such as revising and making new valuations, laying out roads, acting as 
tutor at the academies or as assistant to district managers, or else taking the place of a manager 
temporarily, etc. 

The higher administrative offices are filled by selections from the managers, length of service 
counting only when special fitness for the kind of work required accompanies it; so that, as in the 
army, the highest officer has been through all the grades below, and is conversant with every 
detail of the service. The pay is small, graded in each kind of position according to length of 
service and somewhat according to the cost of living in diflerent places. The honor of the position, 
to which usually other honors are added, its permanency, and the assurance of a pension, graded 
according to length of service, in case of disability or age, make up for small salaries. The 
salaries, subject to change from time to time, without adding the value of perquisites like houses, 
farm lands, etc., range about as follows in Prussia: 

1 director (Oberlaudtbrstmeister) $3, 600 

4 forest councilors (Liindforstmeister) $1, 800 to 2, 400 

33 chief inspectors (01)erforstmei8ter) (witli additions for house and traveling np to $1,100) 1,050 1,500 

89 inspectors (Forstmeister) (with additions for house and traveling up to $1,100) 900 1,500 

679 district managers (Oberfoerster) (with additions up to $825 and house and field) 500 900 

3, 390 rangers (Foerster) (with house and additions up to $110) 260 360 

349 guards (Waldwaerter) 100 200 

The rangers (Foerster) follow different courses of instruction, part of which they receive in 
subordinate positions under district managers; while serving in the army in special battalions 
(chasseurs) they receive also theoretical instruction, which is supplemented in special schools. 
When finally promoted to the responsible position of rangers, in which much discretion and 
latitude are given them, their pay amounts to from $260 to $360, with a house and field, with the 
assurance of pension on withdrawal. 



256 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

The following schools are provided for the higher grades of foresters: 

Higher forestry schools in (rermanii for the cfhication of forest managers, 
[Austria and Switzerland iuchided.] 



Naiiif of place. 


State. 


Wlieu 
lounded. 


LengtI. 
of course 
(years). 


Instructors 

of forestry 

branches 

proper. 


Total 
number of 
iustructors. 


Average 
attendance 
of forestry 

students. 


At universities: 




1825 
1818 
1878 

1832 
1855 
1875 

1807 
1811 
1830 
1831 
1868 


3 
ib) 

3 
3 

2i 


3 

3 
8 

2 
3 
C 

3 

5 


(a) 
(a) 
(lis 

19 

c20 

43 

9 
10 

8 
14 
13 


40 50 




Wurttemberg 

Bavaria 


50-00 


Munich 

At polytecbnicum : 


c 90-100 
15-30 


y. • 1 




l.'i-30 


Vifiiini 




130-140 


Separate academies: 




90-100 


Th -tiTiflt ^ 




100-135 


■p- , 




65^75 




Prussia 

do 


140-150 




40-60 









a The entire corps of professors of the university. In Munich 18 professors are engaged in lecturing on subjects which concern for- 
estrj' students ; in Ziirich, 20 professors. In Munich all studies can he followed in any year, as the students may select, 'liie attendance 
varies, of course. wiiJely in different years, having heen as high as 216 in Eberswalde and 120 in Miinden. The above figures are for 18S5-8G. 

& Not prescribed. 

c During the winter of 1898 there were 14.0 students at Munich out of 527 forestry students at all forestry schools. 

The following tabic Avill serve to give au idea of what iustructioii is to be had at these 
institutions : 

Flan of studies at Forest Academy Ehei'swalde. 



Subjects of instruction. 



FDNDAMENTAL SCIENCEB. 

Natural sciences. 



General and theoretic chemistry 

Special inorganic and organic chemistry applied 

Physics and meteorology 

Mineralogy and geognosy 

Definition of minerals and rocks 

Kevie ws for organic natural sciences 

Jiotany in general aud forest botany in particular 

Anatomy of plants, vegetable physiology and pathology . 

Microscopy 

Botanical reviews 

Botanical excarsions, each 2J hours 

. General zoology 

Vertebrates 

Invertebrates, with special reference to forest insects 

Zoological preparations 

Zoological reviews r 

Zoological excursions, each 3 hours 



Total natural sciences 

Mathematics. 
Geodesy 

Interest and rent account 

Wood-measuring 

Mathematical reviews and exercises 

Surveying and leveling exercises, each 4 ho 
Plan-drawing exercises, 2i hours 



Total mathematics 

Economic sciences. 

Public economy and linances 

Total sum of hours for fiiudanicntal 



"Whole 
number 

of hours. 



Subjects of instruction. 



ntlNCIPAL SCIENCES. 



Cultivation of forests 

Forest iuiplemcuts 

Geographical forest botany 

Protection of forests 

Porest usufruct and technology : 

Forest surveying 

Appraising forests 

Calculation of the value of forests and forest statistics . 

Administration of forest and hunting 

Eedemption of rights of usage 

Forest history 

Forest statistics , 

Review of various forest matters 

Examinations 

Forest excursions, each 4 hours , 



Total. 



SECUNDAllY SCIEN'CES. 

Jurii2>rudc7ice. 



Whole 
number 
of hours. 



Civil law 

Criminal law , 

Civil and criminal lawsuits and constitutional rights . 
Jurisprudence 

Total 

Construction of roads 

Hunting ' 

Shooting exercises, 2 hours each 



Total sum of ho 
Grand total 



i for secondary 



Fundamental sciences . 

Principal sciences 

Secondary sciences 



Average per instruction week (21 weeks 



er, 17 during summer; 2 winter 
- =:28.5 hours, or per day, 4.0 la 



\i summer coiuscb) : 



SYSTEM OF FORESTRY KNOWLEDGE. 257 

If we were to codify into a system the science of forestry as developed in Germany we might 
come to the following scheme, which exhibits the various branches in which a well-educated 
forester must be versed : 

System oif Forestry Knowledge. 

I. FOREST POLICY — ECONOMIC BASIS OF FORESTRY (THE CONDITION). 

Aspects. 

1. Forestry statistics. (Areas, forest conditions; products. By-products: Trade; supply and demand; prices; 

substitutes.) 

2. Forestry economics. 

(a. Study of relation of forests on climate, soil, water, health, ethics, etc. 

b. Study of commercial peculiarities and position of forests, and forestry in political economy.) 

3. History of forestry. 

Application. 

4. Forestry politics. (Formulation of rights and duties of the State and of its methods in developing forestry; legis- 

lation, State forest administration, educatiou.) 

II. FOREST PRODUCTION — TECHNICAL BASIS OF FORESTRY (THE CROP). 
Aspects. 

5. Forest botany.. (Systematic botany of arborescent flora; forest geography; plant and climate; biology of trees 

in their individual and aggregate life; forest weeds. 

6. Soil 2>hysics and soil cliemistry with special reference to forest growth, 

7. Tiniber physics. (Anatomy of woods ; chemical physiology and physical properties of woods. Influences deter- 

mining same; diseases and faults.) 

8. Technology. (Application of wood in the arts ; requirements and behavior; mechanical and working properties; 

durability; special needs of consumers; use of by-products, waste materials, minor forest products.) 

Application. 

9. Silvicnltiire. (Methods of growing the crop.) 

a. Natural reforestation ; cutting for reproduction. 

b. Artificial afforestation ; jirocurement of jilant material ; nursery practice, choice of plant material, methods 

of soil preparation, of forest planting. 
• c. Improving and accelerating the crop. Cultivation, tilling, thinning, pruning, undergrowiug. 
d. Systems of management. Timber forest, standard copjjice, coppice, etc. 

10. Forest protection. (Against insects, climatic injuries, fire, cattle, etc.) 

11. Forest improvement and enijineering. (Treatment of denuded mountain slopes, shifting sands, barrens, swamp 

and moors, road buildiug, etc.) 

12. Forest utilization. (Methods of harvesting, transporting, preparation for market.) 

III. FOREST ORGANIZATION — AD.MINISTRATIVE AND FINANCIAL BASIS (THE REVENUE). 

Aspects. 

13. Forest suroey. Ascertaining area and condition of the forest; ascertaining rate of accretiou, yield. 

14. Forest valuation and statics. Ascertaining money value of forest soil and forest growth as capital of the manage- 

ment and comparing financial results of various kinds of management. 

A2>2'Uvation. 

15. Forest rei/ulalioii. Kstablishing units of management and administration; determining working plans, distri- 

buting yearly or periodical cut, etc. 

16. Forest administration. Routine methods, Ijusiness practice, personnel, organization of service and mechanical 

operations. 

LITERATURE. 

In addition to the live teachings, which an able corps of professors impart at these institutions 
and that which competent managers are ready to impart to the young students in the forest itself, 
a large number of weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual journals and publications are keeping 
the foresters and forestry students au courant with the progress of forestry science and forestry 
technique. Adding the publications of this nature which appear in Austria and Switzerland in 
the German language, and which have their constituency in Germany as well, we can make the 
H. Doc. 181 17 



258 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



following respectable list, not couuting the journals of the lumber trade and other related 
publications. Those marked with an asterisk (*) are to be found in the library of the Division of 
Forestry; those marked (t) are considered the best or are most comprehensive; those marked (?) 
have been discontinued. 

German forestry periodicals. 



Name of publication. 



Published at — 



AUgemeine Forst-u. JagdzeitUDg * t 

Au3 dera Waldo --- 

Aus dem Walde 

Deutsche Forst-u. Jagdzeitung 

Forstlicbe Blaetter 

Forstlich-naturwissenscbaftliclie Zeitschrift * I 

Forstwissenschaftlicbea Centralblatt * t 

Jabresbericbt des scblesiachen Forstvereins 

Jahresbericbt der preussiscben F. u. J. Geaetzbegung 

Laud-u. Forstwirthschaftlicbe Zeitschrift 

Muendener forstlicbe Hefte * 

Oesterreichiscbe Forst zeitiing* 

Der praktische Forstwirt fuer die Schweiz 

Scbweizer Zeitsclirift fuer Forst wesen 

Tharandter forstlicbes Jabrbucb * 

Verbandlungeu der Forstvereilie 

Bericht ueber die Versammlung deutscber F^orstmaenuer . 

Zeitschrift fuer Forst-u. Jagd-\veseu*t 

Zentralblatt fuer das gesammte F'orstwesen * t 

Zeitschrift der deutschen Forstbeamten 



Frankfort on the Main - 

1 Hanover 

Frankfort ou the Maiu . 



.do. 



Berlin ... 
Munich. - 
Berlin ... 
Breslau . . 
Berlin ... 
Vienna . . 
Berlin ... 
Vienn.T, - - 
Davos . . . 
Ziiricli... 
Dresden . 
Various . 



Monthly 

Irregularly . .. 

Weekly 

Semimonthly . 
Monthly 



Aiiuually . 



.do. 



Quarterly — 
Irregularly . . 

Weekly 

(?) 

Quarterly 

Annually 



.do . 



Monthly. 



Should the reader wish to collect a library of the most modern thought on any or all subjects 
pertaining to forestry in Germany the list of books contained in the library of the Department of 
Agriculture, a catalogue of which has been published, with over 1,200 numbers and probably 2,000 
volumes, would give him a good selection. 

FORESTRY ASSOCIATIONS, 

Forestry associations thrive better in Germany than in the United States and are of a different 
character; they are associations of foresters, who practice what they preach. There is no more 
need of a propaganda for forestry than there would be here for agriculture, and the discussions, 
therefore, are moving in technical, scientific, and economic directions. Besides some thirty or 
forty larger and smaller local associations, there is held every year a forestry congress, at which 
the leading foresters discuss important questions of the day. 



FOREST EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 

In addition to all these means of education and of advancement of forestry science, and in 
addition to the demonstration forests connected with the various schools of forestry, there has 
been developed in the last twenty years a new and most important factor in the shape of forest 
experiment stations, which are also mostly connected with the forestry schools. If forestry had 
a strong and well-supported constituency before, this additional force has imparted new impulses 
in every direction. 

The first Incentive for the establishment of these stations came from the recognition that the 
study of forest influences upon climate could be carried on only with the aid of long-continued 
observations at certain stations. Accordingly, during the years 1862 to 1867, forest meteorological 
stations were instituted in Bavaria, which, under the efficient direction of the well-known and 
eminent Dr. Ebermayer, for the first time attempted to solve these and other climatic questions 
on a scientific basis. The results of these and other observations have been fully discussed in 
Bulletin 7 of the Forestry Division and are briefly recorded in this report. 

While these stations were continued and others added in all parts of the country, an enlarge 
ment of the programme was soon discussed with great vigor, leading (between the years 1S70-1S7G) 
to the institution of fully organized experiment stations in Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, Thuriugia, 
Wurtemberg, Baden, Switzerland and Austria following in the same direction; all of these finally 
combining into an "association of German forest experiment stations," similar to the association 
of agricultural experiment stations in our country. Thus the science of forestry, which hitherto 
had been developed empirically, has been placed upon the basis of exact scientific investigation, 
the fruit of which is just beginning to ripen in many branches. 



FOKEST MANAGEMENT IN BRITISH INDIA. 259 

We in the United States are fortunate, in that we can learn from the experience and profit 
from the assiduons work of these careful investigators. While we may never adopt the admirable 
administrative methods that tit the economic, social, and political conditions ot Germany, we shal 
ever follow them where the recognition and utilization of natural laws lead to the practical 
acknowledgment of general principles and to desired economic results m forest culture. 

Forest Management in British India. 

In order to show how the transfer of German methods may work advantageously, eyeu in a 
country entirely dilierently conditioned, the results obtained by the forest management in British 
India are here briefly stated. 

India, with a total area of nearly 1,500,000 square miles or 930,000,000 acres (an area about 
one-half that of the United States without Alaska), has a population of about 2^0,000,000, or four 
times as great as that of the United States. ^ .^. . , +, „ 

Of the entire area about 950,000 s^iuare miles, or 63 per cent, are under British rule, the 
remaining 550,000 square miles, with a population of about 53,000,000, being divided among a 
large number of more or less independent native States. , • . t, *. 

Of the entire population about 70 per cent are farmers and farm laborers, who cultivate about 
300 000 000 acres of land, 30,000,000 of which is irrigated. The greater part of the mam peninsula 
is a high plateau with steep descents to tlie ocean, both on the western and eastern coast 

To the north of this plateau is a broad, fertile, river plain extending from the upper Bramah- 
putra to the mouth of the Indus, a distance of nearly 2,000 miles, without rising more than 900 
feet above sea level. North of this large and densely settled Indo-Gangetic plain, and torming 
the barrier between India and Thibet, is the great Himalaya Mountain system, drained by the 
three great river systems of northern India. . , ,, ^i +, -nt „ 

More than half of India lies within the Troyncs and over 90 per cent is farther south than New 
Orleans, the latitude of which is 30o. From this it is apparent that the climate is generally hot, 
but, owing to diversity of elevation and peculiarities of the distribution of rainfall, it is by no 

"""TheraL^of India depend on extraordinary sea winds, or "monsoons," and their distribution 
is regulated by the topography of land and the relative position of any districts with regard to 
the mountains and the vapor-laden air currents. Thus excessive rainfall characterizes the coast 
line along tbe Arabian Sea to about latitude 20° N., and still more the coast of Lower Burmah, and 
to a lesser extent also the delta of the Gauges and the southern slope of tbe Himalayas. A mod- 
erately humid climate, if gauged by annual rainfall, prevails over the plateau occupying the large 
peninsula and the Lower Ganges Valley, while a rainfall of less than 15 inches occurs oyer the 
arid regions of the Lower Indus. In keeping with this great diversity of climate, both as to 
temperature and humidity, there is great variation in the character and development ot the forest 
cover The natural diiferences in this forest cover are emphasized by the action of man, who lor 
many centuries has waged war against the forest, clearing it permanently or temporarily for agricul- 
tural purposes or else merely burning it over to improve grazing facilities or for purposes of the chase 
Thus only about 25 per cent of the entire area of India is covered by woods, not over 20 per cent 
being under cultivation, leaving about 55 per cent either natural desert, waste, or grazing lands. 
The great forests of India are in Burmah; extensive woods clothe tbe foothdls of the Himalayas 
and are scattered in smaller bodies throughout the more humid portions of the country, whde the 
dry northwestern territories are practically treeless wastes. In this way large areas of densely 
settled districts are so completely void of forest that millions of people regularly burn cow dung as 
fuel, while equally large districts are still impenetrable, wild woods, where, for want of market, it 
hardly pays to cut even the best of timbers. . -^ \ i vi, u. 

The great mass of forests of India are stocked with* hardw.K.ds (.. e., not conifers), which m 
these tropical countries are largely evergreens, or nearly so, and only a small portion of the forest 
area is covered by conifers, both pine and cedar, these pine forests being generally restricted to 
higher altitudes. The hardwoods, most of which in India truly deserve this name, belong to a 
great variety of plant famiUes, some of tbe most important being tbe Leguminosa-, Verbenacea^ 
Dipterocarpeaj, Combretacea^, Rubiace*, Ebenaceie, Euphorbiaceie, Myrtace*, and others, and 



260 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

but a relatively small portion of them represent the Cupuliferae aud other important hardwood 
timber fomilies so characteristic of our woods. 

In the greater i^art of India the hardwood forest consists not of a few species, as with us, but 
is made up of a great variety of trees unlike iu their habit, their growth, aud their product, and 
if our hardwoods offer on this account considerable difllculties to profitable exi)loitatiou, the case 
is far more comi^licated iu India. Iu addition to the large variety of timber trees there is a 
multitude of shrubs, twining aud climbing plants, and iu most forest districts also a dense under- 
growth of giant grasses (bamboos), attaining a height of 30 to 120 feet. These bamboos, valuable 
as they are in many ways, prevent often for years the growth of any seedling tree, and thus form 
a serious obstacle to the regeneration of valuable timber. The growth of timber is generally 
quite rapid; the bamboos make large, useful stems in a single season. Teak grows into large-size 
saw timber in fifty to sixty years. But iu spite of their rapid growth and the large areas now in 
forest capable of reforestation, India is not likely to — at least within reasonable time — raise more 
timber than it needs. In most parts of India the use of ordinary soft woods, such as pine, seems 
very restricted, for only durable woods, those resisting both fungi and insects (of which the white 
ants are specially destructive), can be employed in the more permanent structures, and are there- 
fore acceptable in all Indian markets. 

At present teak is the most important hardwood timber, while the deodar (a true cedar) is the 
most extensively used conifer. Teak occurs in all moist regions of India except the mountain 
countries, never makes forests by itself (pure forests), grows mixed with other kinds, single, or in 
clumps, is girdled two to three years before felling, is generally logged in a primitive way, com- 
monly hewn in the woods aud shipped — usually floated — as timber, round or hewn, and rarely sawn 
to size. Teak is as heavy and strong as good hickory, has little sapwood, stands well after 
seasoning, and is remarkably proof against decay aud the still more dreaded white ants, and is 
really the only Important export timber of India, about $2,500,000 worth having been shipped in 
189Jr-95, bringing about $1 per cubic foot, or more than four times as much as good j)ine timber 
in the market. 

As will be seen from the following figures timber forms only about 20 per cent of the export 
of forest products, which consist chiefly of lac, the basis of shellac (really the product of an 
insect) aud of tanning materials : 

Exports of forest products from India, 1S04~95. 

Lao (basis of shellac) $7,000,000 

Teak 2,800,000 

Myrobalans 2,300,000 

Cntcli and gambler 1,450,000 

Caoutcboiic 550, 000 

Fancy woods — saudal, ebony, rosewood 290, 000 

Cardamoms UO, 000 

Total 14,530,000 

The imports of timber into India have so far been very insignificant. Attempts at introducing 
American coniferous timber (pine, spruce, larch, and hemlock) from the Pacific coast have not 
been successful, though it would seem that some wood goods, such as boxes, sash aud door, and 
cheap furniture, should find a favorable and extensive market if once the trade is established. 
Perhaps a treatment of these materials with some of the new flreprooflng substances could be 
made to render them at the same time more resistant to white ants and other insect borers, 
and thus procure for them several important advantages at once. 

In the past the people of India, as far as known, never realized the importance of their 
forests. They were cleared, destroyed,,mutilated at all times aud in all places, and the use of 
wood never seems to have formed an important factor in Hindoo civilization. 

With tlie advent of foreign commerce the exploitation of the forests for the more valuable 
exx:)ort timbers received a new stimulus aud the forests were culled regardless of the future, either 
of forest or people. This matter was aggravated by the construction of railways, which, in 
themselves large consumers, also offered a premium on all that contributed to increased traffic. 
When, finally, it was noticed that the demands of timber for iiublic w^orks in some localities could 



INDIAN FOREST MANAGEMENT. 261 

no longer be sui^plied without costly transportation, tlie matter at last received public attention. 
In 1856, Dr. D. Brandis was appointed superintendent of forests for Pegu ; in 1SC2 be was charged 
with the duty of organizing a foi'est department for all India, and in 1864 he was appointed the 
first inspector-general for the forests of India. During the thirty-four years of its existence this 
department has steadily and rapidly grown in the area managed, the number of men employed, 
and the revenue derived for the State. In 1894-95 this forestry department had control of about 
112,900 square miles of forest, nearly half of all the forests, and about 12 per cent of the entire 
area of India. Of these State forests, 74,0t)0 square miles are " reserve" or permanent State forests, 
Avhile the rest are held as "protected" and "unclassed," a large portion of which will become 
reserve or permanent forests as fast as the necessary surveys and settlement can be made. 

With tlie irregular distribution of forests, the peculiarities of Indian affairs, and the unsurveyed 
wild, and dififlcult conditions of the forests themselves, it is but natural that the work thus far 
has been chiefly one of organization, survey, and in-otection, and to a far less degree an attempt 
at improvement both by judicious cutting and reforestation. 

Over 33,000 square miles have been surveyed for forest purposes since 1874, and over 4,000 
square miles were added during the year 1894-95, at a cost of over $200,000. 

Work of establishing and maintaining boundary lines, which is often a very difficult and 
costly matter in the dense tropical jungles, involved during the same year an expeuse of over 
$40,000, and there are at present about 60,000 miles of such boundary lines maintained. Besides 
this survey work proper, there is a large force constantly at work to ascertain tlie amount and 
condition of timber supplies and to prepai'e suitable plans for their ex])loitation and improvement, 
so that about 12 per cent of the entire forest area, or over 570,000 acres, is by this time managed 
with definite working plans as to amount of timber to be cut, what areas to be thinned, reforested, 
etc. The work of protection is chiefly one of preventing and fighting fires. This protection with 
present means can not be carried on over the entire forest areas, of which large tracts are not even 
crossed by a footpath, and in a land where the regular firing of the woods has become the custom 
of centuries, and where, in addition, intensely hot and dry weather, together with a inost luxuriant 
growth of giant grasse-s, render these jungle fires practically unmanageable. In all forests near 
settlements the forest must be isolated by broad "fire traces" or otherwise. In the jungle forests 
these traces must be broad; the grass, often taller than an elephant, must be cut and burned 
before the grass on either side is dry enough to burn. Similarly, the traces in the long-leaf pine 
forests must be very wide and first converted into grass strips, cut or kept clean by burning. In 
spite of the unusual difticulties there were in 1894-95 over 33,000 square miles protected against 
fire, and on only 8 per cent of this area did the element succeed in doing any damage. In this 
work, too, great progress has been made during the last twenty years; the efficiency has steadily 
increased, and the expense, about $10 per square mile in 1883, has been reduced to less than half. 

In the protection against unlawful felling or timber stealing and grazing, the Government 
of India has shown itself fully equal to the occasion by a liberal policy of sui)plying villagers 
in proximity to the forests with fuel, etc., at reduced prices or gratis. Over $2,000,000 worth was 
thus disposed of in 1894-95, the incentive to timber stealing being thereby materially reduced. 
A reasonable and just permit system of grazing, where again the needs of the neighboring 
villagers are most carefully considered, not only brings the Government a yearly revenue of nearly 
$800,000, but enables the people to graze about 3,000,000 head of animals in the State forests 
without doing any material damage to tree growth. 

Though the forests of India are now, and will continue for some time to be, little more than 
wild woods, with some protection and a reasonable system of exploitation, in ])lace of a mere 
robbing or culling system, yet the work of actually improving the forests steadily increases in 
amount and perfection. 

In the large teak forests of Burma, as well as other provinces, care is had in helping this 
valuable timber to propagate itself; the useless kinds of trees are girdled, huge climbers are cut 
olf, and a steady war is waged against all species detrimental to teak regeneration. Where the 
teak has entirely disappeared, even planting is resorted to. Thus in Burma over 35,000 acres 
have been restocked with teak by means of taungyas, or plantations, where the native is allowed 
to burn dowii a piece of woods, use it for a few years as field (though it is never really cleared) on 
condition of planting it with teak, being paid a certain sum for every hundred trees in a thrifty 



262 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



condition at the time of giving up his land. Similarly, the department has expended large sums 
in establishing forests in parts of the arid regions of Beluchistan, and on the whole has expended 
about $150,000 during 1894-95 on cultural operations, which up to that time involved about 
76,000 acres of regular plantations and 36,000 acres taungyas (mostly teak), makiTig a total of 
112,000 acres, besides numerous large areas where the work consisted merely in aiding natural 
reproduction. 

In disposing of its timber the Government of India employs various methods. In some of 
the forest districts the people merely pay a small tax and get out of the woods what and as much 
as they need. In other cases the logger merely pays for what he removes, tbe amount he fells 
being neither limited in quantity nor quality. The prevalent systems, however, are the permit 
system, where a permit is issued indicating the amount to be cut and the price to be paid for the 
same, and the contract system, where the work is more or less under control of government officers 
and the material remains government property until paid for. To a limited extent the State carries 
on its own timber exploitation, as appears from the following figures, where the cut for 1894-95 for 
the entire country is given : 



KiD(] and quantity of prodnot. 



Timber (1,000 ouliic feet) 
Fnel (1,000 cubic feet) ... 
Eaniboos (1,000 pieces) .. 
Minor prcciacts ($1,000) . . 



state. Purchaser. 



a, 700 
28, OOO 
1, 600 



39, 900 

69, 000 

132, 200 

1,300 



In spite of the many difficulties, a poor market (no market at all for a large number of woods), 
wild, unsurveyed, and practically unknown woodlands, requiring unusual and costly methods of 
organization and protection, the forestry department has succeeded, without curtailing the timber 
output of India, in so regulating forest exploitation as to insure not only a permanence in the output, 
but also to improve the woodlands by favoring the valuable species, and thus prepare for an 
increase of output for the future, and at the same time has yielded the Government a steadily 
growing revenue, which bids fair to rank before long among the imj)ortant sources of income. 

The growth of both gross and net revenue is illustrated by the following figures: 



Yearly income during the period — 


Gross in- 


Expenses. 


Proportion 
of expense 




$2, 810, 000 

3, 330, 000 

4, 408, 000 

5, 834, 000 
7, 974, 000 


Percent. 
.$1, 960, 000 1 70 
2,288,000 : 69 

2, 806. 000 1 64 

3, 713, 000 1 04 

4, 206, 000 ; .'■)4 








1890 1894 . ... 






1 



Prom this it is clear that in India as in Europe not only the gross but also the net income has 
become greater in proportion as a better organization is i^ermitted lo expend more money on the 
care of the forests. 

During the year 1894-95 the income from State forests was distributed as follows: 

Wood $6,170,000 

Minor products 670, 000 

Grazing 780,000 

Other incomes 750,000 

Total income 8,370,000 

The expenditures for the same year were : 

For administration (pay of officers, fores.ters, etc.) $2, 200, 000 

For cutting timber and removing it 1, 350, 000 

Other work 760,000 

Forest school 46,000 

Total recurring expenses 4, 356, 000 

For survey and other extraordinary work 300, 000 

Total expenditure 4,656,000 

leaving a net revenue of $3,714,000, or 44 per cent of the gross income. 



INDIAN FOREST MANAGEMENT. 263 

It is of special interest to note that the expense of fire protection amounted, under these most 
extraordinary circumstances, only to $130,000, or 1.6 per cent of the gross income, and that for 
cultural work, the horror of the American anti-forest proclaimer, only $150,000, or 1.8 per cent of 
the gross income, was paid. 

The forest laws of India were like those of most countries, a matter of growth and adaptation, 
with the important difference, however, that the well-defined object of preserving to this great 
and peculiar people a continuous supply of the all-essential timber was steadily kept in mind. 
The principal acts are those of 1S65, 1860, and especially the "Indian forest act" of 1878, with 
secondary legislation applying to particular localities, such as the act of 1881 for Burma, and 1882 
for Madras and otLers. 

In general these forest laws provide for the establishment of permanent or "reserved" State 
forests, to be managed according to modern forestry principles. They provide for a suitable force of 
men; give the forest officers certain police powers; prohibit unwarranted removal of forest 
products, the setting of fires, or otherwise injuring the forest property. The laws also regulate 
grazing and the chase by permit systems, and prescribe rules by which the work of the depart- 
ment is carried on, as well as the manner in which officers are engaged, promoted, etc. Since the 
peculiar circumstances required men specially fitted and trained, schools were established to 
furnish the recruits for this steadily growing service. The one at Coopers Hill, England, where a 
thorough course is intended to prepare men for the superior staff positions, and the Imperial 
school at Dehra Dun, which is to supply the great number of the executive stafl', the young men 
starting in usually as guards or rangers at a pay of about $25 per month, working their way up 
to places worth $70 per month, and if well suited, eligible for further promotion. In the Delira 
Dun school and the executive staff the native element is fast making itself felt, and there is little 
doubt that the men of India will soon be able to manage the forests of their own native land. 



R PRINCIPLES OF SILVICULTURE. 



How Trees Grow. 

Trees, like most other plants, originate from seed, build np a body of cell tissues, form foliage, 
iiower, and fruit, aud take up food material from tbe soil and air, which they convert into cellulose 
and other compouuds, from which all their parts are formed. They rely, like other plants, upon 
moisture, heat, and light as the means of performing the functions of growth. Yet there are 
some peculiarities in their behavior, their life and growth, which require special attention on tbe 
part of a tree grower or forest planter. 

POOD MATERIALS AND CONDITIONS OF GROWTH. 

Trees derive their food and solid substance iu part from the air and in part from the soil. 
The solid part of their bodies is made up of cellulose, which consists largely of carbon (44 per 
cent of its weight), with hydrogen and oxygen added in almost the same proportions as in water. 
The carbon is derived from the carbonic acid of the air, which enters into the leaves, and under 
the influence of light, air, and water is there decomposed; the oxygen is exhaled; the carbon is 
retained aud combined with elements derived from the water, forming compouuds, such as starch, 
sugar, etc., which are used as food materials, passing down the tree through its outer layers to 
the very tips of the roots, making new wood all along the branches, trunk, aud roots. 

This process of food preparation, called " assimilation," can be carried on only in the green 
parts, and iu these only when exposed to light and air; hence foliage, air, and light at the top 
are essential prerequisites for tree growth, and hence, other conditions being favorable, the more 
foliage aud the better developed it is and the more light this foliage has at its disposal for its 
work, the more vigorously will the tree grow. 

In general, therefore, pruning, since it reduces the amount of foliage, reduces also for the 
time the amount of wood formed; and just so shading, reducing the activity of foliage, reduces 
the growth of wood. 

SOIL CONDITIONS. 

Prom the soil trees take mainly water, which enters through the roots aud is carried through 
the younger jiart of the tree to the leaves, to be used in part on its passage for food and wood 
formation aud in part to be given up to the air by transpiration.. 

In a vigorously growing tree the solid wood substance itself will contain half its weight in 
the form of water chemically combined, and the tree, in addition, will contain from 40 to 65 per 
cent and more of its dry weight in water mechanically or hygroscopically held. This last, 
when the tree is cut, very largely evaporates; yet well-seasoned wood still contains 10 to 12 per 
cent of such water. The weight of a green tree — a pine, for instance — is made up in round 
numbers of about 30 per cent of carbou and 70 per cent of water, either chemically or hygroscop- 
ically held, while a birch contains a still larger percentage of water. 

The largest part of the water which passes through the tree is transpired — i. e., given off to the 
air in vapoi*. The amounts thus transpired during the season vary greatly with the species of 
tree, its age, the amount of foliage at work, the amount of light at its disposal, the climatic 
conditions (rain, temperature, winds, relative humidity), and the season. These amounts are, 
however, very large when compared with the quantity retained ; so that while an acre of forest 
264 



FOREST GROWTH AND SOIL. 



265 



may store in its trees, say, 1,000 pounds of carbon, 15 to 20 pounds of mineral substances, and 
5,000 pounds of water in a year, it will have transpired— taken up from the soil and returned to 
the air— from 500,000 to 1,500,000 pounds of water (one-quarter to one-half as much as agricul- 
tural crops). 

Mineral substances are taken up only in very small quantities, and these are mostly the 
commoner sorts, such as lime, potash, magnesia, and nitrogen. These are carried in solution to 
the leaves, where they are used (as also on their passage through the tree), with a part of the 
water, in food preparation. The main part of the mineral substances taken up remains, however, 
as the water transpires, in the leaves and young twigs, and is returned to the soil when the leaves 
are shed or when the tre^ is cut and the brush left to decompose and make humus. The mineral 
constituents of the tree remain as ashes when wood is burned, the remaining elements passing 
into the atmosphere in the form of gas. 

Hence the improvement of the fertility of the soil by wood crops is explained, the minerals 
being returned in more soluble form to the soil; as also tlie fact that wood crops do not exhaust 
the soil of its minerals, provided the leaves and litter are allowed to remain on the ground. 

For this reason there is no necessity of alternating wood crops, as far as their mineral needs are 
concerned; the same kind of trees can be grown on the same soil continuously, provided the soil 
is not allowed to deteriorate from other causes. 

As the foliage can perform its work of food assimilation only when sufficient water is at its 
disposal, the amount of growth is also dependent not only on the presence of sufiQcient sources of 
supply, but also ou the opportuuity had by the roots to iitilize the supply, and this opportunity is 
dependent upon the condition of the soil. If the soil is compact, so that the rain water can not 
penetrate readily and runs off superficially, or if it is of coarse grain and so deep that the water 
rapidly sinks out of reach of the roots and can not be drawn up by capillary action, the water 
supply is of no avail to the plants; but if the soil is porous and moderately deep (depth being the 
distance from the surface to the impenetrable subsoil, rock, or ground water), the water not only 
can penetrate, but also can readily be reached and taken up by the roots. 

The moisture of the soil being the most important element in it for tree growth, the greatest 
attention must be given to its conservation and most advantageous distribution through the soil. 

No trees grow to the best advantage in very dry or very wet soil, although some can live and 
almost thrive in such unfavorable situations. A moderately but evenly moist soil, porous and 
deep enough or fissured enough to be well drained, and yet of such a structure that the water 
supplies from the depths can readilybe drawn up and become available to the roots— that is the 
soil on which all trees grow most thriftily. 

The agriculturist procures this condition of the soil as far as possible by plowing, drainage, 
and irrigation, and he tries by cultivating to keep the soil from compacting again, as it does under 
the influence of the beating rain and of the drying out of the upper layers by sun and wind. 

The forest grower can not rely upon such methods, because they are either too expensive or 
entirely impracticable. He may, indeed, plow for his first planting, and cultivate the young trees; 
but in a few years this last operation will become impossible and the effects of the first operation 
will be lost. He must, therefore, attain liis object in another manner, namely, by shading and 
mulching the soil. The shading is done at first by planting very closely, so that the ground may 
be protected as soon as possible from sun and wind, and by maintaining the shade well throughout 
the period of growth. This shade is maintained, if necessary, by more planting, and in case the 
main crop in later life thins out inordinately in the crowns or tops, or by the accidental death of 
trees, it may even become desirable to introduce an underbrush. 

The mulching is done by allowing the fallen leaves and twigs to remain and decay, and form 
a cover of rich mold or humus. This protective cover permits the rain and snow waters to pene- 
trate without at the same time compacting the soil, keeping it granular and in best condition for 
conducting water, and at the same time preventing evaporation at the surface. 

The soil moisture, therefore, is best maintained by proper soil cover, which, however, is needful 
only in naturally dry soils. Wet soils, although supporting tree growth, do not, if constantly wet, 
produce satisfactory wood crops, the growth beiug very slow. Hence they must be drained and 
their water level sunk below the depth of the root system. 



266 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

Irrigatiou is generally too expensive to be a^jplied to wood crops, excejjt perhaps in the arid 
regions, where the benefit of the shelter belt may warrant the expense. 

Attention to favorable moisture conditions in the soil requires the selection of such kinds of 
trees as shade well for a long time, to jdant closely, to protect the woody undergrowth (but not 
weeds), and to leave the litter on the ground as a mulch. 

Different species, to be sure, adapt themselves to different degrees of soil moisture, and the 
crop should therefore be selected with reference to its adaptation to available iroisture supplies. 

While, as stated, all trees thrive best with a moderate and even supply of moisture, some can 
get along with very little, like the conifers, especially pines; others can exist even with au 
excessive supply, as the bald cypress, honey locust, some oaks, etc. The climate, however, must 
also be considered in this connection, for a tree species, although succeeding well enough on a dry 
soil iu an atmosi)here which does not require much transpiration, may not do so in a drier climate 
on the same soil. 

In the selection of different kinds of trees for different soils, the water conditions of the soil 
should therefore determine the choice. 

LIGHT CONDITIONS. 

To insure the largest amount of growth, full enjoyment of sunlight is needed. But as light 
is alinost always accompanied by heat aud relative dryness of air, which demands water from the 
plant, and may increase transpii-atiou from the leaves inordinately, making them pump too hard, 
as it were, young seedlings of tree species whose foliage is not built for such strains require 
partial shading for the first year or two. The conifers belong to this class. 

The great extent of our country, involving as it does wide ranges of climatic and soil condi- 
tions, makes it impossible to give complete lists of trees adapted to various soil conditions in all 
parts of the United States. The safest rule for the planter to follow is to be guided iu his 
selection of species by the character of the growth iu similar sites near the land to be planted. 
Speaking generally, the following lists may be useful : 

Trees that endure wet soils, — South of the Ohio River and central Missouri: Bald cypress, 
white cedar, red cedar, black gum, holly, water oak,. red birch, cottonwood. North of the Ohio 
and Missouri rivers: White cedar, arbor vitte, larch, black spruce, cottonwood, white willow, 
sycamore. 

Dry soils. — South of the Ohio Eiver and central Missouri: Mesquite (Texas and southwest), 
black oak, hackberry, shortleaf pine. North of Ohio and Missouri rivers: Bull i)ine, jack pine, 
scrub pine, white oak, post oak, jack oak. 

The remaining species, north and south, require moist or fresh soils for their development, 
conditions under which all species succeed best. 

In later life the light couditioiis exert a threefold influence on the development of the tree, 
namely, with reference to soil conditions, with reference to form development, and with reference 
to amount of growth. 

The art of the forester consists in regulating the light conditions so as to secure the full 
benefit of the stimulating effect of light on growth without its deteriorating influences on the soil 
and on form development. 

As we have seen, shade is desirable in order to preserve soil moisture. Now, while young 
trees of all kinds, during the "brush" stage of development, have a rather dense foliage, as they 
grow older they vary in habit, especially when growing iu the forest. Some, like the beech, the 
sugar maple, the hemlock, and the spruce, keep uj) a dense crowu; others, like the chestnut, the 
oaks, the walnut, the tulix) tree, and the white pine, thiu out more and more, and when fully grown 
have a much less dense foliage; finally, tliere are some which do not keep up a dense shade for any 
length of time, like the black and honey locust, with their small, thin leaves; the catalpa, with its 
large but few leaves at the end of the branchlets only, and the larch, with its sliort, scattered 
bunches of needles. So we can establish a comparative scale of trees with reference to the amount 
of shade which they can give continuously, as densely foliaged and thinly foliaged, in various 
gradations. If we planted all beech or sugar maple, the desirable shading of the soil would 
never be lacking, while if we iilanted all locust or catalpa the sun would soon reach the soil and dry 
it out, or permit a growth of grass or weeds, which is worse, because these transpire still larger 



SHADE AND LIGHT EEQUIREMENTS. 267 

quantities of -nater than the bare ground evaporates or an undergrowth of woody plants would 
transpire. Of course, a densely foliaged tree has many more leaves to shed than a thinly foliaged 
one, and therefore makes more litter, which increases the favorable mulch cover of the soil. 
Another reason for keeping the ground well shaded is that the litter then decomposes slowly, but 
into a desirable humus, which acts favorably upon the soil, while if the litter is exposed to light, 
an undesirable, partly decomposed "raw" humus is apt to be formed. 

Favorable soil conditions, then, require shade, while wood growth is increased by full eujoy- 
ment of light; to satisfy both requirements, mixed planting, with proper selection of shade- 
enduring and light-needing species, is resorted to. 

As the diiferent species afford shade in differeut degrees, so they require for their development 
different degrees of light. The dense foliage of the beech, with a large number of leaves in the 
interior of the crown, proves that the leaves can exist and perform their work with a small amount 
of light; the beech is a shade enduring tree. The scanty foliage of poplars and pines shows that 
these are light-needing trees; hence they are never found under the dense shade of the former, 
while the shade-enduring can develop satisfactorily under the light shade of the thin-foliaged 
kinds. Very favorable soil conditions increase the shade endurance of the latter, and climatic 
conditions also modify their relative position in the scale. 

All trees ultimately thrive best — i. e., grow most vigorously — in the full enjoyment of light, but 
their energy then goes into branching. Crowded together, with the side light cut oft', the lower 
lateral branches soon die and fall, while the main energy of growth is put into the shaft and the 
height growth is stimulated. The denser shade of the shade enduring kinds, if placed as neigh- 
bors to light-needing ones, is most effective in producing this result, provided that the light is not 
cut off at the top; and thus, in practice, advantage is taken of the relative requirements for light 
of the various species,' 

The forester finds in close planting and in mixed growth a means of securing tall, clear trunks, 
free from knots, and he is able, by proper regulation of light conditions, to influence the form 
development, and also the quality of his crop, since slow growth and rapid growth produce wood 
of different character. 

There are some species which, although light-foliaged and giving comparatively little shade, 
are yet shade-enduring — i. e., can subsist, although not develop favorably, under shade; the oaks 
are examples of this kind. Others, like the black cherry, bear a dense crown for the first twenty 
years, perhaps, seemingly indicating great shade endurance; but the fact that the species named 
soon clears itself of its branches and finally has a thin crown indicates that it is light needing, 
though a good shader for the iirst period of its life. Others, again, like the catalpa, which is 
shady and shade enduring, as the difficulty with which it clears itself indicates, leaf out so late 
and lose their foliage so early that their shading value is thereby impaired. Black locust and 
honey locust, on the other hand, leave no doubt either as to their light-needing or their inferior 
shading quality. 

Tliat soil conditions and climatic conditions also modify crown development and shade 
endurance has been well recognized abroad, but in our country this iufluence is of much more 
importance on account of the great variation in those conditions. Thus the box elder, an excel 
lent shader in certain portions of the West, is a failure as soil cover in others where it nevertheless 

will gTOW. 

We see, then, that; in determining the shading value as well as the shade endurance of one 
species in comparison with another, with reference to forestry purposes, not only soil and climate 
but also the character of foliage and its length of season must be considered. 

As to shade endurance the more valuable species of the United States, including exotics, 
may be classed as follows : 

Light-demanding from seedling stage: Aspen, cottonwood, black walnut, black locust, honey 



'This relation of the diifereut species to varying light conditions, their compar.ative shading value and shade 
endurance, is one of the most important facts to be observed and utilized by the forester. European foresters have 
done this, but since they had to deal with only a few species and over a limited territory, they could quite readily 
classify their trees with reference to their shade endurance, and take it for granted that shade endurance and density 
of foliage or shading value were more or less identical. With our great wealth of useful species it will be necessary 
and profitable to be more exact in the classification. 



268 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS V. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

locust, white ash, green ash, red pine, bull pine, sycamore, larch, black birch, mesquite, the 
hickories. 

Light-demanding when mature, but enduring moderate shade in youth : The oaks, white pine, 
black cherry, catalpa, silver maple, red maple, the elms, tulip, yellow birch. 

Shade-enduring: Beech, sugar maple, box elder, mulberry, hackberry, hemlock, red cedar, 
Douglas spruce, white fir, white spruce, arbor vita;, and white cedar. 

PHYSIOLOGY OF TREE GROWTH. 

As we have seen, root 'and foliage are the main life organs of the tree. The trunk and 
branches serve to carry the crown upward and expose it to the light, which is necessary in order 
to prepare the food and increase the volume of the tree, and also as conductors of food materials 
up and down between root and foliage. A large part of the roots, too, aside from giving stability 
to the tree, serve only as conductors of water and food material; only the youngest parts, the 
fibrous roots, beset with innumerable fine hairs, serve to take up the water and minerals from tl^e 
soil. These fine roots, root hairs, and young parts are therefore the essential portion of the root 
system. A tree may have a fine, vigorous-looking root system, yet if the young parts and fibrous 
roots are cut off or allowed to dry out, which they readily do — some kinds more so than others — 
thereby losing their powers to take ixp water, such a tree is apt to die. Under very favorable 
moisture and temperature conditions, however, the old roots may throw out new sprouts and 
replace the fibrous roots. Some species, like the willows, poplars, locusts, and others, are 
especially capable of doing so. All trees that " transplant easily" probably possess this capacity 
of renewing the fibrous roots readily, or else are less subject to drying out. But it may be stated 
as a probable fact that most transplanted trees which die soon after the planting do so because the 
fibrous roots have been curtailed too much in taking up, or else have been allowed to dry out on 
the way from the nursery or forest to the place of planting; they were really dead before being 
set. Conifers — pines, spruces, etc. — are especially sensitive; maples, oaks, catalpas, and apples 
will, in this respect, stand a good deal of abuse. 

Hence, in transplanting, the first and foremost care of the forest grower, besides taking the 
seedling up with least injury, is the proper protection of its root fibers against drying out. 

The water, witli the minerals in solution, is taken up by the roots when the soil is warm enough, 
but to enable the roots to act they must be closely packed with the soil. It is conveyed mostly 
through the outer, which are the younger, layers of the wood of root, trunk, and branches to the 
leaves. Here, as we have seen, under the influence of light and heat it is in large jjort transpired 
and in part combined with the carbon into organic compounds, sugar, etc., which serve as food 
materials. These travel from the leaf into the brancblet, and down through the outer layers of 
the trunk to the very tips of the root, forming new wood all the way, new buds, which lengthen into 
shoots, leaves, and flowers, and also new rootlets. To live and grow, therefore, the roots need the 
food elaborated in the leaves, just as the leaves need the water sent up from the roots. 

Hence the interdependence of root system and crown, which must be kept in proportion when 
transplanting. At least, the root system must be sufficient to supply the needs of the crown. 

"SAP UP AND SAP DOWN." 

The growing tree, in all its parts, is more or less saturated with water, and as the leaves, 
under the influence of sun and wind and atmospheric conditions generally transpire, new supplies 
are taken in through the roots and conveyed to the crown. This movement takes place even in 
winter, in a slight degree, to supply the loss of water by evaporation from the branches. In the 
growing season it is so active as to become noticeable: hence the saying that the sap is "up," or 
"rising," and when, toward the end of the season, the movement becomes less, the sap is said to 
be "down." But this movement of water is always upward; hence the notion that there is a 
stream upward at one season and in one part of the tree and a stream downward at another 
season and perhaps in another part of the tree is erroneous. The downward movement is of food 
materials, and the two movements of water upward and food downward take place simultaneously 
and depend, in part at least, one upon the other, the food being carried to the young parts, 
wherever required, by a process of dittusiou from cell to cell known as "osmosis." 



FOOD AND WATEK MOVEMENT. 



269 



These food materials are, by the life processes of the active cells, changed in chemical 
composition as need be, from sugar, which is soluble, into starch, which is insoluble, and back 
into sugar, and combined with nitrogenous substances to make the cell-forming material, proto- 
plasm (flg. 27). 

In the fall, when the leaves cease to elaborate food, both the upward and the downward 
movement, more or less simultaneously, come to rest (the surplus of food materials, as starch, and 
sometimes as sugar, being stored for the winter in certain cell tissues), to begin again simultane- 
ously when in spring the temperature is high enough to reawaken activity, when the stored food of 
last year is dissolved and started on its voyage. The 

exact manner in which this movement of water uijward „ ^ 

and food materials downward takes place, and the 
forces at work, are not yet fully understood, nor is 
there absolute certainty as to the parts of the tree in 
which the movement takes place. It appears, how- 
ever, that while all the so-called "sapwood" is capable 
of conducting water (the heartwood is probably not), 
the most active movement of both water and food 
materials takes place in the cambium (the growing 
cells immediately beneath the bark) and youngest 
Ijarts of the bark. 

The deductions from these ])rocesses important to 
the planter are: That injury to the living bark or bast 
means injury to girowth, if not destruction to life; that 
during the period of vegetation transplanting can be 
done only with great caution; that the best time to 
move trees is in the fall, when the leaves have dropped 
and the movement of water and food materials has 
mostly ceased, or in spring, before the movement be- 
gins again, the winter being objectionable only because 
of the diiBculty of working the soil and of keeping the 
roots protected against frost. All things considered, 
spring planting, before activity in the tree has begun, 
is the best, although it is not impossible to plant at 
other times. 

la the making of protoplasm and the plant tissues 
resulting from its growth, many chemical changes 
occur within the plant, as a result of which not only 
woody tissue, which may be considered the permanent 
essential product of growth, but also many by-products 
are formed. It not infrequently happens that what 
has here been termed the by-product is of greater com- 
mercial importance than the wood itself Thus among familiar woody species the India rubber 
tree is only valued for its sap, the logwood of Central America for dyeing, the cinchona trees for 
their alkaloid (quinine i^roducts), etc. Again, some of our most important timber trees yield also 
useful by-products. The maple yields millions of pounds of excellent sugar, the longleaf pine is 
the principal source of the resin and turpentine supply of the world, and the bark of hemlock and 
of certain oaks furriish most of the tannin used iu American tanneries. 




Fig. 27. — Pbysiological importance of different parts of 
the tree; pathways of water and food materials. 

(Schematic.) 



PKOGRESS OF DEVELOPMENT. 

Like wheat or corn, the tree seeds require as conditions for sprouting sufficient moisture, 
warmth, and air. The seeds, however, differ from grain in that most of the kinds lose their power 
of germination easily; with few exceptions (locust, pine, spruce), they can not be kept for any 
length of time. 

The first leaves formed often differ essentially in shape from those of the mature tree, which 
may cause their being confounded with other plants, weeds, etc. 



270 



FOEESTKY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTUEE. 




Fig. 28. — Bud development of beecb. B, as it would be 
if all formed buds were to live; A, as it is, many buda 
failing to develop. 



The little seedlings of many, especially the conifers, are quite delicate, and rem ain very small 
the first season ; they need, therefore, the protecting shade of mother trees, or artificial shading, 
and also protection against weeds. The amount of light or shade given requires careful regulation 
for some of them; too much light and heat will kill them, and so will too much shade. This 

accounts for the failure of many seedlings that spring 
uj) in the virgin forest. 

The planter, then, is required to know the nature and 
the needs of the various kinds of seeds and seedlings, so 
as to provide favorable conditions, when he will avoid sow- 
ing in the open field such 
as require the care which 
it is impractical to give 
outside of the nursery. 

GROWTH IN LENGTH AND 
RAMIFICATION. 

While the stalk of wheat 
or corn grows for one sea- 
son, exhausts itself in seed 
production, and then dies, 
the tree continues to grow 
from season to season, 
in length as well as in 
thickness. The growth 
in length of shaft and 
branches proceeds from 
buds, made up of cell tis- 
sues, which can subdivide 

and lengthen into shoots, as well as make leaves. These buds are 

formed during summer, and when winter begins contain embryo 

leaves, more or less developed, under the protecting cover of scales 

(fig. 29). When spring stimulates the young plant to new activity) 

the buds swell, shed their scales, distend their cells, increasing their 

number by subdivision, and thus the leaves expand, and the bud 

lengthens into a shoot and twig. During the season new buds are 

formed, and the whole process repeats itself from year to year, 

giving rise to the ramification and height growth of the tree. The 

end buds being mostly stronger and better developed, the main axis 

of tree or branch increases more rapidly than the rest. All these 

buds originate from the youngest, central part of the shoot, the 

pith, and hence when the tree grows in thickness, enveloping the 

base of the limbs, their connection with the pith can always be 

traced. This is the usual manner of bud formation ; in addition, 

so-called "adventitious " buds may be formed from the young living 

wood in later life, which are not connected with the pith. Such 

buds are those which develop into sprouts from the stump when 

the tree is cut; also those which give rise to what are known as "water sifrouts." Many buds, 

although formed, are, however, not developed at once, and perhaps not at all, especially as the 

tree grows older; these either die or remain "dormant," often for a hundred years, to spring into 

life when necessary (fig. 29). 

The fact that each ordinary limb starts as a bud from the pith is an important one to the 

timber grower; it explains knotty timber and gives him the hint that in order to obtain cleair 

timber the branches first formed must be soon removed, either by the knife or by proper shading, 

which kills the branches and thus " clears " the shaft. 

The planter has it also in his power to influence the form develoi^ment of the tree by removing 




Via. 29.— Buda of maple. A, longitudi- 
nal section through tip of a maple 
twig; f?, end bud; s, lateral buda; I, 
sears of leaves of lastsoa.son. B, cross 
section through end bud, showing 
folded leaves in center and scales sur- 
rounding them. 



HOW TREES GROW. 



271 




'ii3#sif('iiifii&; 




m 

Fig. 30. — Dormant bud K, on a 12-year-old branch 
of beech. The bud is still capable of development 
and is connected with the jnth, 7717/1, of the stem by 
a fine trace of pith, S. 



some of the buds, giving thereby better chauce to the remaining ones. This pruning of buds is, 

■where practicable, often better practice than the pruning of limbs. 

Since the tree does not grow iu length except by its buds, it is evident that a limb which 

started to grow at the height of G feet has its base always 6 feet from the ground, and if allowed 

to grow to size, must be surrounded by the wood which accumulates on the main stem or trunk. 

If a liuib is killed and broken off early, only a slender stub 

composed entirely of rajiidly decaying sapwood is left, 

occasioning, therefore, only a small defect in the lieart of 

the tree; but if left to grow to considerable age, the base 

of the limb is incased by the wood of the stem, which, 

when the tree is cut into lumber, appears as a knot. The 

longer the limb has been allowed to grow the farther out is 

the timber knotty and the thicker is the knot. If the limb 

remained alive, the knot is " sound," closely grown together 

with the fibers of the tree. If the limb died off", the remain- 
ing stub may behave in 
different ways. In pines 
it will be largely com- 
posed of heartwood, very 
resinous and durable; 
separated from the fibers 
of the overgrowing wood, 
it forms a " loose" knot, 
which is ai)t to fall out of 
aboard, leaving a hole. 

In broad-leaved trees, where no resin assists in the process of 
healing, the stub is apt to decay, and this decay, caused by the 
growth of fungi, is apt to penetrate into the tree (fig. 3-!). In 
parks and orchards pruning is resorted to, and the cuts are 
painted or tarred to avoid the decay. Iu well-managed forests 
and dense woods in general the light is cut off, the limb is killed 
when young and breaks 
away, the shaft " clears it- 
self," and the sound trunk 
furnishes a good grade of 
material. The difference 
in development of the 
branch system, whether 
in full enjoyment of light, 
in open stand, or with the 
side light cut off, in dense 

position, is show'u in the accompanying illustration (fig. 33). 
Both trees start alike; the one retains its branches, the 

other loses them gradually, the stubs being iu time over- 
grown; finally, the second has a clear shaft, with a crown 

concentrated at the toj). while the first is beset with 

branches and branch stubs for its whole length (fig. 34). 
When ripped open lengthwise, the interior exhibits 

the condition shown in fig. 3G, the dead parts of the knot 

being indicated in heavier shading. Since the branches 

grow in more or less regular whorls, several knots, stumps, or limbs are met every (5 to 24 inches 

through the entire stem. 

Hence, in forest planting, trees are placed and kept for some time close together, in order to 

decrease the branching in the lower part of the tree and thus j)roduce a clean bole and clear lumber. 



Fio. 31 Section throngh a 12.year-old stem 

of beech, showing manner of bud and limb 
formation, a, dormant buds; 6, their trace 
of ])ith extending to the pith of the stem; 
c, a limb "which started two years ago from 
a dormant bud; d, normal litnb; e, a limb 
dead for four years ; /. adventitiona buds. 




F[Q. 32 Section through a partly decayed knot in 

oak wood, a, "wood of the knot; b and c, wood cal- 
lus of thesfem covering the wound ; shaded portion, 
decayed wood ; black part, a cavity remaining. 



272 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 



GROWTH IN THICKNESS. 

The young seedling and the young slioot of the older tree much resemble in interior structure 
that of any herbaceous i3lant, being composed of a large amount of pith, loose squarish cells, and 
a few bundles of long fibers symmetrically distributed about the center, the whole covered with a 
thin skin or epidermis. Bach strand or bundle of fibers, called fibro-vascular (fiber-vessel) bundles, 
consists of two kinds, namely, wood fibers on the inner side and bast fibers of different structure 
on the outer side. Between these two sets of fibers, the bast and the wood, there is a row of cells 
which form the really active, growing part of the plantlet, the cambium. Tlie cambium cells are 
actively subdividing and expanding, giving off wood cells to the interior and bast cells to the 
exterior, and extending at the same time sidewise, until at the end of the season not only are 

the Avood and bast portions increased in lines radiating 
from the center, but the cambium layer, the wood cells, 
and the bast cells of all the bundles (scattered at the 
beginning) join at the sides to form a complete ring, or 
rather cylinder, around the central pith. Only here and 
there the pith cells remain, interrupting the wood cylinder 
and giving rise to the system of cells known as medullary 
rays. The cross section now shows a comparatively small 
amount of pith and bast or bark and a larger body of 
strong wood fibers. The new shoot at the end, to be sure, 
has the same appearance and arrangement as the young 
plantlet had, the pith preponderating, and the continuous 
cylinder of cambium, bast, and wood being separated into 
strands or bundles. 

During the season, through the activity of the cambial 
part of the bundles, the same changes take place in the 
new shoot as did the previous year in the young seedling, 
while at the same time the cambium in the yearling part 
also actively subdivides, forming new wood and bast cells, 
and thus a second ring, or rather cylinder, is formed. The 
cambium of the young shoot is always a continuation of 
that of the ring or cylinder formed the year before, and 
this cambium cylinder always keeps moving outward, so 
that at the end of the season, when activity ceases, it is 
always the last minute layer of cells on the outside of the 
wood, between wood proper and bark. It is here, there- 
fore, that the life of the tree lies, and any injury to the 
cambium must interfere with the growth and life of the 
tree. 

The first wood cells which the cambium forms in the 
spring are usually or always of a more open structure, 
thin-walled, and with a large opening or "lumen" com- 
l)arable to a blown-up paper bag; so large, in fact, sometimes, is the "lumen" that the width of 
the cells can be seen on a cross section with the naked t ye, as, for instance, in oak, ash, elm, the 
so-called "pores" are this open wood formed in spring. The cells which are formed later in 
summer have mostly thick wall's, are closely crowded and compressed, and show a very small 
opening or "lumen," being comparable, perhaps, to a very thick, wooden box. They appear in 
the cross section not only denser but of a deeper color, on account of their crowded, compressed 
condition and thicker walls. Since at the beginning of the next season again thin-walled cells 
with wide openings or lumina are formed, this difference in the appearance of "spring wood" 
and "summer wood" enables us to distinguish the layer of wood formed each year. This "annual 
ring" is more consi>icuous in some kinds than in others. In the so-called "ring-porous" woods, 
like oak, ash, elm, the rings are easily distinguished by the open spring wood ; in the conifers. 




Fio. 33.— Dovelopiuent in and out of the forest 
young tree alike iu both cases ; B and C, 
stages of tree grown in tlie open ; B' and C, corre- 
sponding stages of the tree grown in the forest. 
!N umbers refer to annual growth in height. 



HOW TREES GROW. 



273 



especially pines, by the dark colored summer wo^id; while in maple, birch, tulip, etc., only a thin 
liue of flattened, hence darker and regularly aligned, summer cells, often hardly recognizable, 
distinguishes the rings from each other. Gutting through a tree, therefore, Ave can not only 
ascertain its age by counting its annual layers in the cross section, but also determine how much 
wood is formed each year (fig. 36). We can, in fact, retrace the history of its growth, the vicissi- 
tudes through which it has passed, by the record preserved in its ring growth. 

To ascertain the age of a tree correctly, however, we must cut so near to the ground- as to 
include the growth of the first year's little plantlet. Any section higher up shows as many years 
too few as it took the tree to reach that height. 

This annual-ring formation is the rule iu all 
countries which have distinct seasons of summer 
and winter and temporary cessation of growth. 
Only exceptionally a tree may fail to make its 
growth throughout the whole length, on account 
of loss of foliage and other causes, and occasion- 
ally, when its growth has been disturbed during 
the season, a "secondary" ring, resembling the 
annual ring, and distinguishable only by the ex- 
pert, may appear and mar the record. 

To the forest planter this chapter on ring 
growth is of great importance, because not only 
does this feature of tree life afford the means of 
watching the progress of his crop, calculating 
the amount of wood formed, and therefrom deter- 
mining when it is most profitable for him to har- 
vest (namely, when the annual or periodic wood 
growth falls below a certain amount), but since 
the proportion of summer wood and spring wood 
determines largely the quality of the timber, and 
since he has it in his j)ower to influence the pre- 
ponderance of the one or other by adaptation of 
species to soils and by their management, ring 
growth furnishes an index for regulating the 
quality of his crop. 

FORM DEVELOPMENT. 

If a tree is allowed to grow in the open, it 
has a tendency to branch, and makes a low and 
spreading crown. In order M lengthen its shaft 
and to reduce the number of branches it is necessary to narrow its growing space, to shade its 
sides so that the lower branches and their foliage do not receive light enough to j)erform their 
functions. When the side shade is dense enough these branches die and finally break off under 
the influence of winds and fungous growth; wood then forms over tlie scars and we get a clean 
shaft which carries a crown high up beyond the reach of shade from neighbors. 

The branches being prevented from spreading out, the shaft is forced to grow upward, and 
hence, when crowded by others, trees become taller and more cylindrical in form, while in the 
open, where they can spread, they remain lower and more conical in form (figs. 37 and 38). 

There are, to be sure, different natural types of development, some, like the walnuts, oaks, 
beeches, and the broad leafed trees generally, having greater tendency to spread than others, like 
spruces, iirs, and conifers in general, which lengthen their shaft iu preference to spreading, even 
in the open. This tendency to spreading is also influenced by soil conditions and climate, as well 
as by the age of the tree. When the trees cease to grow in height their crowns broaden, and this 
takes place sooner in shallow soils than in deep, moist ones; but tlie tendency can be checked and 
all can be made to develop the shaft at the expense of the branches by proper shading from the 
sides. 

H. Doc. 181 18 




in ami out of the forest, D, tree grown in the 
open ; D', tree grown iu the forest. 



274 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



It follows that the forest planter, who desires to produce long and clean shafts and best working 
quality of timber, must secure and maintain side shade by a close stand, while the landscape 
gardener, who desires characteristic form, must maintain an open stand and full enjoyment of 
light for his trees. 

ZSTow, as we have seen, different species afford different amounts of shade, and in proportion 

to the shade which they afford can they endure shade. 
The beech or sugar maple or spruce, which maintain 
a large amount of foliage under the dense shade of 
their own crown, show that their leaves can live and 
functionate with a small amount of light. They are 
shade-enduring trees. On the other hand, the black 
walnut, the locust, the 
catalpa, the poplars, 
and the larch show by 
the manner in which 
their crowns thin out, 
the foliage being con- 
fined to the ends of the 
branches, that their 
leaves require more 
light — they are light- 
needing trees; so that 
the scale which ar- 
ranges the trees ac- 
cording to the amount 
of shade they exert 
serves also to measure 
their shade endurance. 
In making, there- 
fore, mixed planta- 
tions the different 
kinds must be so 
grouped and managed 
that the shady trees 
will not outgrow and 
overtop the light need- 
ing. The latter must either have the start of the former or must be 
quicker growers. 

RATE OF GROWTH. 

Not only do different siDecies grow more or less rapidly in height 
and girth, but there is in each species a difference in the rate of 
growth during different periods of life and a difference in the per- 
sistence of growth. 

It stands to reason that trees grow differently in different soils 
and situations, and hence we can not comjjare different species with 
respect to their rate of growth except as they grow under the same 
conditions. 

Thus the black walnut may grow as fast as or faster than the ash 
on a rich, deep, moist, warm soil, but will soon fall to the rear in a 
wetter, colder, and shallower soil. 

Given the same conditions, some species will start on a rapid upward growth at once, like the 
poplars, aspen, locust, and silver maple, making rapid progress (the most rapid from their tenth 
to their fifteenth year), but decreasing soon in rate and reaching their maximum height early. 
Others, like the spruce, beech, and sugar maple, will begin slowly, often occupying several, 




Fig. 35. — Sections of logs .sbowing the relative development of 
Icuota. E, from tree grown m the open ; E' , from tree grown 
in a dense forest; a and c, whorls of knots; &, dead limb; 
.9fc " sound knot ; " dk, *■ dead knot." 




Fig. 36 Scheme to illustrate the ar- 

rangementof annual growth. 1, 2, 3, 
etc., represent the parts of the stem 
grown during the first, second, third, 
etc., twenty years of the life of the 
tree, fc, knots; the shaded part of each 
is the "dead knot" of lumljer. 



RATE OF GROWTH. 



275 




Fir- 3"— Oil tree . 



sometimes as many as 10 to 15, years before they appear to grow at all, their energy all going into 
root growth. Then comes a period of more and more accelerated growth, which reaches its 
maximum rate at 25 or 30 years; and when the Cottonwood or aspen has reached the end of its 
growth in height the spruce or pine is still at its best rate, and continues to grow for a long time 
at that rate. In later life the rate decreases, yet height growth sometimes does not cease altogether 
for centuries. As a rule, the light-needing species are the ones which show the rapid height 
growth at the start, while the shade enduring are slow at the start, but persistent growers. 

This fact is important in explaining the alternations of forest growth in nature; the i^ersistent 
shade-enduring species crowd out the light-needing, and the 
latter rapidly take possession of any openings that fire or storm 
has made. It is also important with reference to the manage- 
ment of wood crops and starting of mixed i^lantations ; the light- 
needing species must be mixed only with such shade-euduriug 
species as are slower growers than themselves. 

The diameter growth shows also periodic changes in its rate, 
and is, of course, influenced in the same way by soil, climate, 
and light conditions as the height growth. 

In the juvenile or brush stage, lasting 6 to 10 years in light- 
needing and 20 to 40 years in shade enduring species, the diame- 
ter grows comx)aratively little, all energy being directed to 
height growth and root growth. When the crown has been definitely formed more food material 
is available for wood formation, and the increase in foliage is accompanied by a more rapid increase 
of trunk diameter; in favorable situations the highest rate occurs between the fortieth and sixtieth 
years; in the poorer situations, between the fiftieth and eightieth years, which rate continues for 
some time. Then comes a i)eriod of slower rate, which finally in old age dwindles down almost 
to zero. 

But neither the diameter growth nor the width of the annual rings alone tells us directly 
what amount of wood is forming. The outer rings, being laid over a lai'ger circumference, although 

narrower than the preceding rings, may yet have greater cubic 
contents. The statements of diameter growth are, therefore, 
misleading if we ai-e interested in knowing how much wood is 
forming. 

Accordingly the growth in volume must be considered 
separately, as determined by the enlargement of the cross- 
section area and the height. The growth in volume or mass 
accretion is quite small in young trees, so that when wood is cut 
young the smallest amount of crop per year is harvested, while, 
if it is allowed to grow, an increase more than proportionate 
to the number of years may be obtained. 

Only when the tree has a fully developed crown does it 
begin to make much wood. Its volume growth progresses theu 
at compound interest, and continues to do so for decades, and 
sometimes for a century or more. 

On poorer sites the rate is slower, but remains longer on the 
increase, while on good sites the maximum rate is soou reached. 
Of course in a forest, where light conditions are not most 
favorable, because form development and soil conditions require 
shade, the total wood formation is less than in an isolated tree favorably placed. Just so the domi- 
nant trees in a forest — i. e., those which have their crowns above all others — show, of course, the 
advantage they have over the inferior trees which are suffering from the shade of their neighbors. 
Finally, if we would take into consideration an entire forest growth, and determine, for 
instance, how much wood an acre of such forest produces at different periods, we must not over- 
look the fact that the number of trees per acre changes as the trees grow older. Some of them 
are overshaded and crowded out by the others, so that a young growth of spruce might start 
with 100,000 little seedlings to the acre, of which in the twentieth year only 10,000 would be alive, 




Fk, s-M pi 



276 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

while in the fortieth year the uumber would be reduced to 1,200, aud in the hundredth year to 
280. Hence the rate of growth of any single tree gives no idea of what the acre of forest will do. 

Thus, while a single good white pine might grow the fastest in volume when about one hun- 
dred years old, then making wood at the rate of, say, 1.5 cubic feet per year, an acre of pine on 
good soil, containing about 1,600 trees, may make the most wood in the thirtieth year, then 
growing at the rate of 170 cubic feet per acre, while in the hundredth year the rate would not 
exceed 70 cubic feet; and an acre of pine in a poorer location, with about 1,400 trees, may make 
the most wood in the fortieth year, at the rate of 100 cubic feet per acre. 

From the consideration of the relation of light conditions to soil conditions, to form develop- 
ment, and to rate of growth, we may make the following deductions of interest to the forest 
planter: 

In order to secure the best results in wood production, in quantity and quality, at the same 
time preserving favorable soil conditions, the forest should be composed of various species, a 
mixture of ligUt-needing and shade enduring kinds. The light-needing ones should be of quicker 
growth; the shady ones, in larger numbers, should be slower growers. For the first fifteen to 
twenty-five years the plantation should be kept as dense as possible, to secure clear shafts and 
good growth in height; then it should be thinned, to increase crown development and diameter 
growth; the thinning, however, is not to be so severe that the crowns can not close up again in 
two or three years; the thinning is to be repeated again and again, always favoring the best 
developed trees. 

RATE OF GROWTH. 

■ The more commonly cultivated trees may be classified with reference to their rate of growth, 
as follows : 

liapid growers to maturity: Cottonwood, aspen, tulip, loblolly pine, white pine, white elm, 
box elder, silver maple, jack pine. 

Rapid growing in youth, but much slower in age: Black cherry, long-leaf pine, short-leaf 
pine, catalpa, black walnut, black locust, honey locust, the birches. 

Slow but persistent growers: White ash, sugar maple, the oaks, the hickories, the spruces, 
and hemlock. 

REPRODUCTION. 

All trees reproduce themselves naturally from seed. Man can secure their reproduction also 
from cuttings or layers; and some kinds can reproduce themselves by shoots from the stump 
when the parent tree has been cut. This latter capacity is possessed in a varying degree by 
different species; chestnuts, oal;s, elms, maples, poplars, and willows are most excellent sprouters; 
most conifers do not sprout at all, and the shoots of those that do sprout soon die (Sequoia or 
California redwood seems to be an exception). Sprouts of broad-leafed trees develop differently 
from seedlings, growing very rapidly at first, but soon lessening in the rate of growth aud never 
attaining the height and perhaps not the diameter of trees grown from the seed; they are also 
shorter lived. With age the stumps lose their capacity for sprouting. To secure best results, tlie 
parent tree should be cut close to the ground in early spring, avoiding severe frost, aud a sharp 
cut should be made which will not sever the bark from the trunk. 

Not all trees bear seed every year, and plentiful seed production, especially in a forest, occurs, 
as a rule, periodically. The periods differ with species, climate, and season. 

Not all seeds can germinate, and in some species the number of seeds that can germinate is 
very small, and they loose their power of germination when kept a few hours, like the willows. 
Others, if kept till they have become dry, will "lie over" in the soil a year or more before germi- 
nating. The same thing will occur if they are covered too deep in the soil, provided they 
germinate at all under such conditions. 

In order to germinate, seeds must have warmth, air, and moisture. The preparation of a seed 
bed is, therefore, necessary in order to supply these conditions in most favorable combination. 
In the natural forest millions of seeds rot or dry without sprouting, and millions of seedlings 
sprout, but soon perish under the too dense shade of the mother trees. 

Man, desiring to reproduce a valuable wood crop, can not afford to be as lavish as nature, and 
must therefore improve upon nature's methods, making more careful preparation for the production 



FOREST PLANTING. 277 

of his crop, either by growing the seedliugs in nurseries and' transplanting them, or else by cutting 
away the old growth in such a manner as to secure to the young self-grown crop better chances 
for life and development. 

How TO Plant a Forest. 

Forest planting and tree planting are two different things. The orchardist, who plants for 
fruit; tlie landscape gardener, who jilants for form; the roadside planter, who plants for shade, all 
have objects in view different from that of the forest i)lanter, and therefore select and use their 
plant material differently. They deal with single individual trees, each one by itself destined for 
a definite purpose. The forester, on the other hand, plants a crop like the farmer; he deals not 
with the single seed or plant, but with masses of trees; the individual tree has value to him only 
as a part of the whole. It may come to harvest for its timber, or it may not come to harvest, and 
yet have answered its purpose as a part of the whole in shading tbe ground or acting as nurse or 
"forwarder" as long as it was necessary. 

His object is not to grow trees, but to produce wood, the largest amount of the best quality 
per acre, whether it be stored in one tree or in many, and his methods must be directed to that end. 

As far as the manner of setting out plants or sowing seeds is concerned, the same general 
princiiiles and the same care in manipulation are applicable as in any other planting, except as 
the cost of ojierating on so large a scale may necessitate less careful methods than the gardener 
or nurseryman can afford to apply; the nearer, however, the performance of planting can be 
brought to the careful manner of the gardener, the surer the success. The principles underlying- 
such methods have been discussed in the chapter "How trees grow;" in the present chapter it is 
proposed to point out briefly the special considerations which should guide the forest planter in 
particular. 

WHAT TREES TO PLANT. 

Adaptability to climate is the first requisite in the species to be planted. 

It is best to choose from the native growth of the region which is known to be adapted to it. 
With regard to species not native, tbe reliance must be placed upon the experience of neighboring 
planters and upon experiment (at first on a small scale), after study of the requirements of tbe 
kinds proposed for trial. 

Adaptation must be studied, not only with reference to temperature ranges and rainfall, but 
especially with reference to atmospheric humidity and requirements of transpiration. 

Many species have a wide range of natural distribution, and hence of climatic adaptation. 
If such are to be used, it is important to secure seeds from that part of the range of natural 
distribution where the plants must be hardiest, i. e., the coldest and driest region in which it 
occurs, which insures hardy qualities in the offspring. For instance, the Douglas spruce from 
tbe humid and evenly tempered Pacific slope will not be as hardy as that grown from seed 
collected on the dry and frigid slopes of the Rockies. Lack of attention to this requisite accounts 
for many failures. It must also be kept in mind that while a species may be able to grow in 
another than its native climate, its wood may not there have the same valuable qualities which it 
develops in its native habitat. 

Adaptability to soil must be studied less with reference to mineral constituents than to phys- 
ical condition. Depth and moisture conditions, and the structure of the soil, which influences the 
movement of water in it, are tbe most important elements. While all trees thrive best in a 
moist to "fresh" soil of moderate depth (from 3 to 4 feet) and granular structure, some can adapt 
themselves to drier or wetter, shallow, and compact soils. Fissures in rocks into which the roots 
can penetrate often stand for depth of soil, and usually aid in maintaining favorable moisture con- 
ditions. In soils of great depth (i. e., from the surface to the impenetrable subsoil) and of coarse 
structure water may drain away so fast as not to be available to the roots. 

Soil moisture must always be studied in conjunction with atmospheric moisture, for while a 
species may thrive in an arid soil, when the demands of transpiration are not great, it may not do 
so when aridity of atmosphere is added. Trees of tbe swamp are apt to be indifferent to soil 
moisture and to thrive quite well, if not better, in drier soils. 

Adaptahility to site. — While a sijecies may be well adapted to the general climatic conditions 
of a region, and in general to the soil, there still remaius to be considered its adaptability to the 



278 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

particular " site," under which term we may comprise the total effect of general climate, local 
climate, and soil. The general climatic conditions are locally influenced, especially by the slope, 
exposure, or aspect, and the surroundings. Thus we know that eastern exposures are more liable 
to frost, western exposures more liable to damage from winds, southern more apt to be hot and to 
dry out, and northern to be cooler and damper, having in consequence a shorter period of vegeta- 
tion. Hollows and lowlands are more exposed to frosts and more subject to variations in soil 
moisture, etc. 

Hence for these various situations it is advisable to select vSi^ecies which can best withstand 
such local dangers. 

The use value, or utility, of the species is next to be considered. This must be done with reference 
to the commercial and domestic demand, and the length of time it takes the species to attain its 
value. The greater variety of purposes a wood may serve — i. e., the greater its general utility — 
and the sooner it attains its use value, the better. White pine for the northeastern States as a 
wood is like the apple among fruits, making an all-round useful material in large quantities per 
acre in short time. Tulip poplar, applicable to a wider climatic range, is almost as valuable, while 
oak, ash, and hickory are standard woods in the market. Other woods are of limited application. 
Thus the black locust, which grows most quickly into useful posts, has only a limited market, 
much more limited than it should have; hickory soon furnishes valuable hoop poles from the 
thinnings, and later the best wagon material, not, however, large quantities in a short time; while 
black walnut of good quality is very high in price, the market is also limited, and the dark color 
of the heartwood, for which it is prized, is attained only by old trees. The black cherry, used for 
similar purposes, attains its value much sooner. 

By planting various species together, variety of usefulness may be secured and the certainty 
of a market increased. 

The forest value of the species is only in part expressed by its use value. As has been shown 
in another place, the composition of the crop must be such as to insure maintenance of favorable 
soil conditions as well as satisfactory develoi^ment of the crop itself. Some species, although of 
high use value, like ash, oak, etc., are poor preservers of soil conditions, allowing grass and weeds 
te enter the plantation and to deteriorate the soil under their thin foliage. Others, like beech, 
sugar maple, box elder, etc., although of less use value, being dense foliaged and preserving a 
shady crown for a long time, are of great forest value as soil improvers. 

Again, as the value of logs dejiends largely on their freedom from knots, straightness, and 
length, it is of importance to secure these qualities. Some valuable species, if grown by themselves, 
make crooked truuks, do not clean their shafts of branches, and are apt to spread rather than 
lengthen. If planted in close companionship with others, they are forced by these "nurses" or 
"forwarders'' to make better growths and clean their shafts of branches. 

Furthermore, from iinancial considerations, it is well to know that some species develop more 
rapidly and produce larger quantities of useful material per acre than others; thus the white 
pine is a "big cropper," and combining with this a tolerably good shading quality, and being in 
addition capable of easy reproduction, it is of highest "forest value." 

Hence, as the object of forestry is to make money from continued wood crops, use value and 
forest value must both be considered in the selection of materials for forest planting. 

Mutual relationship of different species, with reference especially to their relative height growth 
and their relative light requirements, must be considered in starting a mixed plantation. 

Mixed forest plantations (made of several kinds) have so many advantages over pure planta- 
tions (made of one kind) that they should be pi-eferred, except for very particular reasons. Mixed 
plantations are capable of producing larger quantities of better and more varied material, preserve 
soil conditions better, are less liable to damage from winds, fires, and insects, and can be more 
readily reproduced. 

The following general rules should guide in making up the comijositiou of a mixed plantation : 

a. Shade-enduring kinds should form the hulk (five-eighths to seven-eighths) of the plantation, except on 
specially favored soils, where no deterioration is to be feared from planting only light-needing kinds, and in which 
case these may even be planted by themselves. 

T). The light-needing trees should be surrounded by shade-enduring of slower growth, so th.it the former may 
not be overtopped, bxit have the necessary light and be forced by side shade to straight growth, 



279 

FOREST PLANTING. 

■n n,lmiKt«re with each other wheu their rate of height growth is 
c. Shade-enduring species maybe grown m ^^-l^^^t^'^^^j;;^ l„^,^^, ,^, quicker-growing (for instance, hy 

Sri:jrl -X;So^:^=;~-^^ .„ ..po.ed iudi.idna.y and 

l^^^::::^::^:^^::^^^^^----^ - .ttercan he tinned out ^r. without 

^'^^t:i::::Me. .. ..... .asons p.event^ ^^^ 1:^^ t^rS^: ^1^ 

needing- rapui growing species may be usec^^^^^^^^^^ 

plantation, provided the remaining trees ai e d-P^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I, tkis case the rapid-growing 

Z^Z:^^^:^^.:':^^^:^^^-^ - permanent trees and to protect 

be greatly improved by ^^jf/Pf^^^^^^^i^^;^" J^^^ee the growth of the plantation. 

each other and to the soil are the most jortante^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^ ^ 

Aimilahility of the species also still needs .*^o"^"™ ^i^^^^lt to obtain material 

species may be very well adapted to the purpose inland l^^^J^^^ T^tL best species for 
for planting in quantity or f JXteVreSngTc^n n t be htll as yet in quantity. Western 
shade endurance, and hence foi soil ^-^J^l^^'^^'^^ ,^^tiug, are at present too high priced for 
conifers, although promising good °^^^*^"^i,J°^f !"'* ^ their seed or seedlings-from the 

general ^^^X::^^:^^^^^^-^ '^ ^^^^^ '^ ''' ''''■ . f 
native woods; otheis must oe ^io« u depends upon a number of 

Wkemer to procure .seeds or pU^^^ rfurnsh tie better 'timber, had best be planted 

::^rr:s^grr;=r^r:?ir^«^^ 

woodsor grown in seedbeds,^ or dse cuttingly ^^ ^^^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^^^ 

In some localities-for instance, the ^^"^'^'^ J;" ^ jj^,^^ r o,. two so precarious 

..M i. ,0 .".C"t™. and *^.e » J'- >-»"f J^rX"' l' .uct L»«o,» c,,ef,.I selection 

r :;:::::.' o»i; ;ri:;i«Hra»»o,,,i,,. .. *!,. ha„,s.ips ,.,«. it „„,.. enc„u„te, »« 

alone insure success. f„„„i«ii tl,P best material. The planting of larged-sized 

r:;:;s":e"r;::tgrsiLr.'r:e1s^t..,»seagreate.propo,.io„o,..svo.tsint,a„sp..,..n.. 

IMBTHODS OF PLANTINa. 

.• •; ■<, f^,. ih^ nnrnose of securing a favorable start for the young crop; its 

PreparaUon o -»';^„/^; .f^^^^ f ^^ fan! that is to be devoted to forest planting does 

effects are lost after the first tew > ears, xuosi w nnr ;= it necessarv where the climate 

not admit of as careful preparation as tor -^^^'l^f'^'fjl'^''^^^^^^^ itself. 

r::r;err.":i:2cSt «.Vor;::,es„'i« to, o. .. ro„o.s „e t.^™ .,p .o^ 

special methods are required. The best methods for i^an ng in the l^^^^J^^ ^,,^ 

tl West have not yet been developed. Thorough f *-^ °"' J ,^^^f ; ™ eon ist iu 
subsequent culture, is successful, but expensive. A plan which might be triea wo . 



280 



FORESTEY INVESTIGATIONS V. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



breaking the raw prairie in Jnne and turning over a sliallow sod, sowing a crop of oats or alfalfa, 
harvesting it with a high stubble, then opening furrows for planting and leaving the ground 
between furrows undisturbed, so as to secure the largest amount of drainage into the furrows and 
a mulch between the rows. 

The time for planting depends on climatic and soil conditions and the convenience of the 
planter. Spring planting is preferable except in southern latitudes, especially in the West, where 
the winters are severe and the fall apt to be dry, the soil therefore not in favorable condition for 
planting. 

The time for fall planting is after the leaves have fallen; for spring planting, before or just 
when life begins anew. In order to be ready in time for spring ijlanting, it is a good practice to 
take up the plants in the fall and "heel them in "over winter (covering them, closely packed, in a 
dry trench of soil). Conifers can be planted later in spring and earlier in fall than broad-leafed 
trees. , 

The density of the trees is a matter in which most planters fail. The advantages of close 
planting lie in the quicker shading of the soil, hence the better i^reservation of its moisture and 
improved growth and form development of the crop. These advantages must be balanced against 
the increased cost of close planting. The closer the j)lanting the sooner will the jjlantation be 
self-sustaining and the surer the success. 

If planted in squares, or, better still, in quincunx order (the trees in every other row alter- 
nating at equal distances), which is most desirable on account of the more systematic work possible 
and the more complete cover which it makes, the distance should not be more than 4 feet, unless 
for special reasons and conditions, while 2 feet apart is not too close, and still closer planting is 
done by natui'e with the best success. 

The following numbers of trees per acre are required when i)lanting at distances as indicated: 



l+by lifeet 19,360 

U by 2 feet 14,520 

2 by 2 feet 10,890 

2 by 3 feet 7, 260 



2 by 4 feet 5,445 

3 by 3 feet 4, 840 

3 by 4 feet 3,630 

4 by 4 feet 2,722 



To decrease expense, the bulk of the plantation may be made of the cheapest kinds of trees 
that may serve as soil cover and secondary or nurse crop, the main crop of from 300 to COO trees 
to consist of better kinds and with better planting material, mainly of light-needing species. 
These should be evenly disposed through the plantation, each closely surrounded by the nurse 
croj). It is of course understood that not all trees grow up; a constant change in numbers by 
the death (or else timely removal) of the overshaded takes place, so that the final crop shows at 
100 years a close cover, with hardly 300 trees to the acre. 

After-culture is not entirely avoidable, especially under unfavorable climatic conditions and 
if the planting was not close enough. Shallow cultivation between the rows is needed to prevent 
weed growth and to keep the soil open until it is shaded by the young trees, which may take a 
year with close planting and two or three years with rows 4 by 4 feet ajiart, the time varying also 
with the species. 

It is rare that a plantation succeeds in all its parts; gaps or fail places occur, as a rule, and 
must be filled in by additional planting as soon as possible if of larger extent than can be closed 
up in a few years by the neighboring growth. 

When the soil is protected by a complete leaf canopy, the forest crop may be considered as 
established, and the after-treatment will consist of judicious thinning. 

The diagrams following present planting schemes illustrative of the rules given above, the 
species being adapted to planting on the Western plains. 



281 



FOREST PLANTING. 

Rules 1 and 2.— One acre planted 3 iy 3 feet requires 4,S40 trees. 

B M B M B M B M B M B M 15 M B M B M 

M M Ch M D M L M D M Cli M D M E M O 

B M B M B M B M B M B M B JI B M B M 

M L M D M C M D M L M U INI C 51 D M L 

B M B M B M B M B M B MB M B M B M 

M D M L M V M Ch M U M L M P M Ch M D 

B M B M B M B M B M B M B M B M B M 

M C M D M E M D M C M D M L M V> M C 

B M B M B M B M B M B M B M B M B M 

M P M Ch M D M C M P M Ch M D M L M P 

B M B M B M B M B M B M B M B M ]5 M 

M L M D M C M D M L M I) M C M D M L 

B M B M B M B M B M B M B M B M B M 

M D M E M P M Ch M B JI L M P M L M D 

B M B M B M B M B M B M B M B M B M 

M C M D M L M D M C M D M L M D M C 
B M B M B M B M B M B M B M B M B M 

M O M Ch M D M L M P M Ch M B M S M 

Shade enduring. 

Trees. 

1 210 

B-Box elder. '.v "':":/.::.'.':::. 2, i2o 

M— Russian mulberry ' 

D— Douglas spruce 

Ch— Black cherry 

C — Catalpa -. 

Light demanding. 

L— Black locust 

P — Bull pine " 

O — Bur oak 

,„ , , -- 4,840 

Total 

Ill tbis mixture the boxelder and Eussian mulberry trees are the nurse trees, aud it may be 
necessary to cut them all out within from teu to tweuty years. They will not have attained more 
than stake or small fuel size in that time, but by shading the remaining trees on the sides they 
will have prevented their formation of side branches, and thus forced them to straight single 

stems. J. ^■ ^ T r 

After the removal of the nurse trees there will remain 1,210 trees to the acre, standing b by b 

feet apart Of these the pine, oak, and locust, numbering 454, are more light demanding than the 
•spruce, cherry, and catalpa, which number 75G. It will be observed that each of these hght- 

demauding trees is neighbored by more shade-enduring kinds. 

The next trees to be removed will be the locusts and catalpas, which sliould be tit for fence 

posts by the time the plantation becomes sufficiently crowded to make their removal necessary. 

The cutting of these, when between 15 and 30 years old, will leave 756 trees per acre, of which 

oaks, pines, and cherry (which demands more light with age), making two-fifths of the whole 

number, will be light demanding, and the spruce shade enduring. 

The thinning from now on will depend entirely upon the requirements of the standing trees, 

the purpose of getting the greatest possible amount of timber of the highest quality as the final 

crops being kept constantly iu view. 



282 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

This discussion of the plan is based upon the impossible supposition that all the tiees will 
live until cut out. Much thinning, in point of fact, will result from the dying of trees, so that the 
ideal perfect stand is never reached in practice. 

The scheme indicated, it is perhaps needless to add, is given merely to illustrate the practice, 
and can be adapted to any suitable species which the i^lanter may be able to secure. 

One acre planted 3 bij 3 feet requires i,S40 trees. 

a a a a a a a a a a 
asac:asacas 
aaaaaaaaaa 

APAPAPASAP 

AAAAAAAAAA 

A SAC A SAGAS 

AAAAAAAAAA 

APASAPASAP 

AAAAAAAAAA 

A S A c: A S A C A S 

Trees. 

A— Aspen 3,630 

S— White spruce 605 

C— Red cedar i 302 

P— White pine 303 

Total ■. 4,840 

This plan illustrates the use of a rapid-growing light demanding species (aspen) as a protection 
for several conifers which are dififlcult to establish in the open, esiiecially in the plains. It will 
be noticed that two of the conifers, the spruce and cedar, are shade-enduring sijecies, and that the 
light-demanding pines will be surrounded by the shaders when the aspen has been cut out. This 
use of the aspen as a soil cover was suggested by an examination of cut-over pine land in northern 
Minnesota, where the aspen (juickly takes the ground when the pine is removed, and the pine 
seedlings appear thickly under its protection. It will be observed that, taking out the aspen, the 
plan is based on the same principles of light influence as is the plan above. 

PLANTING IN AVASTE PLACES. 

Aside from the fence rows, which are usually the worst weed beds of the fai'm, there are many 
small areas in the average ftirm which from a variety of causes are unprofitable for cropping. 
These may well be planted to trees. 

In the most favored region the farm "of which every foot is arable" is seldom seen. Even on 
the richest of i^rairie farms the crests of the rolling surface are apt to become impoverished after 
years of tillage in spite of the best efforts of the farmer, and when the crops fail to pay for the 
labor expended on them the land is as surely "waste" as though it were undrained swamp or 
rocky hillside. In the less densely populated parts of the country, where land is cheap, the fields 
are abandoned when this stage is reached. In the East and South, where the entire country was 
once covered with forest, natural reforestation soon takes place, and in a few years the old fields 
are clothed with pines, spruces, and deciduous trees, the varieties being dependent upon the 
adjacent growth. Within this area the farmer can always conti'ol the character of the forest 
growths on the waste lands of his farm, either by planting or by use of the ax, or both, and there 
is oftentimes great need of good judgment in cutting out inferior trees or undesirable varieties. 

Pew farmers seem to have realized the great value of a close-planted, dense-foliaged grove as 
a conservator of moisture. The snows accumulating in such groves are shaded from the sun, and 
long after the adjacent fields are bare the snow is slowly melting and the water trickling down 
over the plowed fields, which are thus thoroughly saturated. The summer rains are also saved 
to the farm by the same means. Following the deej)-descending roots of the trees, they ay^ 



PLANTING WASTE PLACES. 283 

retained in the lower strata of the soil auil then pass to the adjoining lauds and are brought 
within reach of the growing plants. 

It is not to be supposed that limited plantations, confined to the waste places of the farm, 
would have an appreciable ett'ect on the general climate of a region, for the influences must be 
great that can afiect atmospheric conditions over a wide area. Locally, however, the planting of 
hilltops and the consequent heightening of elevations will often result in the creation of air 
currents that will prevent cold air from settling in the lowlands between, thus obviating late 
spring and early autumn frosts, and this protection can be made more efficient if the coniiguratiou 
of the neighboring lands be studied with a view to creating the strongest possible draft. 

In regions where tender vegetables and fruits are largely cultivated such j)rotection may 
be of primary importance, and the clearing of adjoining hill crests and slopes will often result in 
serious disturbance of the local climate. 

In general, the climatic conditions of the forested area of the country are less extreme than 
those of the plains, but with the record of the three recent drought years the need of moisture 
conservation is apparent alike in the East and West. 

While in the West the thin-soiled ridges are best devoted to tree growth for wind-breaks and 
snow catches, throughout the Eastern and Southern States such localities should be kept in trees 
for the prevention of erosion or gullying, one of the most troublesome results of tillage. 

The general action of the elements in uneven or rolling surfaces invariably tends to carry the 
more fertile toj) mold of the higher ground, or at least the decaying vegetation on the surface, to 
the lower levels, which thus relatively increase in fertility at the expense of the elevations above 
them. In addition to this general tendency there have been deposited throughout the North- 
western States, by glacial and water action, drift soils containing a great quantity of bowlders, 
which are especially thick on the high ridges, making their cultivation very expensive. In many 
localities throughout the Mississippi Valley the trend of the underlying strata of rocks is uj^ward, 
often coming so close to the surface in the ridge lands as to render them worthless for cultivation. 
Along many river and creek valleys the hills which confine the lowlands rise so abruptly as to 
make cultivation impracticable. These and many other special cases which might be mentioned 
constitute the waste highlands of farms, all of which should be devoted to forest-tree culture. 

Trees, as has been seen, can exist and make a profitable growth on lands too poor to support 
farm crops, if the leaves, twigs, and fruit be permitted to lie on the ground and decay. When 
planted in the thin soil of a limestone hill crest, they may make very slow growth during the first few 
years; but as the soil becomes shaded by the tree toiJS the growth becomes more rapid, and when 
the trees have attained a strong foothold, their roots penetrating the crevices of the rocks to the 
water below, they grow with additional vigor. Yet, it is not to be expected that as vigorous 
growth can be secured in these high waste places as in the lower, moist, and deep soils. One has 
only to recall the general character of the waste places of the farm to realize how little can be 
gained from cropping them. Tlie ridge soils are too thin to support a growth of cereal crops; the 
swamp soils are too wet for tillage; the cultivation of irregular plats of small extent becomes too 
expensive, by reason of the difficulties of plowing, seeding, and harvesting. Once in trees, these 
difficulties are reduced to a minimum. The thin soils of the ridges are protected from the weather 
by the tree crowns, and their decaying foliage gradually increases the fertility of the soil. 

The odd corners and fence rows of American farms represent in the aggregate a great quantity 
of unproductive land, which might be planted to trees. Such limited areas, often composed of 
but a few square rods or very narrow strips, can not be treated as forests, but trees must be grown 
on them for special purposes, in which timber production will hardly be considered. 

The highways throughout the farming districts of the United States may be bordered witli 
trees, which, while giving shade, may be used as living fence posts, or may become valuable nut 
orchards, but in any event will afford protection, in winter and summer alike, to tlie traveler and 
to the adjacent fields. In Minnesota, Wyoming, and other Western States the highways are at 
least 66 feet wide, and often a hundred. These tracts, separated only by wire fences from the 
cultivated fields, are not merely waste lands, but for the most part veritable j)ropigating beds for 
noxious weeds, which cause much loss to the farmer. Try as he may, he can not protect his 
lands from Russian thistle, mustard, and the numerous other weed pests so long as these broad 
highways exist as a seeding ground for them. If they were j)lanted to trees, with a vigorous 



284 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U.- S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

uudergiowtb to protect the surface of the soil, they would not only make any weed growth 
impossible, but would also be a poteut means of preventing the dissemination of weeds from one 
section to another, by arresting them when carried by the winds. In many of the Western States 
the farmer is permitted by law thus to plant a portion of the highway with trees. 

Yet another form of waste land is to be considered, and here the farmer living within the 
forest area is much more concerned than the prairie dweller. Had the adaptability of soils to 
tillage been made the basis of clearing lands in the early days, there would be less talk of "thin" 
soils now, for on many farms lands were cleared which should never have been stripped of their 
iirst cover. Steep hillsides, rocky slopes, highlands with hardly a foot of soil between the surface 
and the underlying rock, have been denuded of their forest cover, and their subsequent tillage 
has been all but profitless to the farmer. With constant cropping they have become so impover- 
ished that their cultivation has been abandoned. Yet they have still enough fertility to support 
a vigorous tree growth. On many New England farms such thin lands have been planted to 
white pine with the most encouraging results. In many rocky, drift, eroded, and exhausted hill 
farms there is a depth of soil sufficient for the requirements of all varieties of trees, and the 
farmer within the forest area has thus a wide range of choice in the selection of trees. He 
may grow timber for railroad ties, for posts, for telegraph poles, for lumber, and for many other 
purxjoses, using the species that is best adapted to his need and to his locality. 

In the Southern States the loblolly and short-leaf pines can be quite as readily grown as the 
white pine at the North. The loblolly seems to consider the abandoned fields its heritage, for 
throughout the lower Atlantic and Gulf States it quickly covers the old fields with its seedlings, 
which grow rapidly. 

THE FARM NURSERY. 

When such species as catalpa, box elder, black locust, green ash, white elm, and silver maple 
can be bought for less than $2 per thousand for strong 1-year-old plants, it would seem cheaper to 
purchase than to grow from seed. But with land, tools, and teams at hand, a forest-tree nursery 
can be cultivated at very little expense, and the farmer, by gathering seed of the native trees, and 
purchasing desirable seeds not to be had at home, can grow on a fraction of an acre seedlings 
enough for an extensive plantation. 

Of the broad-leafed trees, the silver maples, elms, poplars, cottonwood, aspen, and willows 
ripen their seeds before midsummer. These should be planted as soon as ripe, care being taken 
not to cover the small seeds too deep. They will germinate in a few days, and by autumn will be 
of a size suitable for transplanting. 

Of the species whose seeds ripen in autumn, those of the tulip, catalpa, honey locust, black 
locust, and Kentucky coffee tree should be thrashed from their pods when gathered and kept over 
winter in a cool place where they will neither dry out nor mold. Birch seeds soon lose their 
vitality if permitted to dry, and they should be stored in close boxes or jars and kept over winter 
in a cool cellar. When the soil is moist in the fall, birch may be sown before the ground freezes, 
but in the dry soil of the plains the seeds should be kept over winter. They must be sown in beds 
shaded as for conifers, and covered very lightly. The seed usually ripens in August in the 
Northern woods, and should be gathered at once, separated, and stored until iDlauting time. 

The sprouting of the seeds of other broad-leafed trees of the Northern forest flora is hastened 
by subjecting them to the action of frost. This is accomplished either by fall planting or by 
mixing the seeds with sand and placing them in boxes on the north side of an outbuilding or other 
protection from the sun, whence they should be planted as soon as possible in the spring, or even, 
when the ground is sntticiently thawed out, in late winter. The nuts and acorns may be simply 
spread on a well-drained surface and protected from drying by a few inches of leaves held down 
by boards; but they are more subject to the depredations of rodents when thus disposed of. The 
seeds of fruit trees, such as cherry, mulberry, osage orange, wild crab apple, and hawthorn, should 
be separated from the jjulp by maceration and washing before storing. Cherry and mulberry seeds 
ripen during the summer, and as the fruit is much relished by birds, watchfulness is necessary to 
get them. They may be slightly dried after washing, and then mixed with sand. Some seeds, 
notably those of the hawthorns, are apt to lie over two or more years. Germination of such 
refractory seeds is hastened by soaking in water continuously for a week or more before planting. 



THE FARM NURSERY. 285 

Wlieu the soil is moist iu the fall, the seeds of all trees which ripen after midsunimer may be 
l^lanted, aud thus the labor of storing is saved. But spring planting is usually more satisfactory, 
because uniform conditions can be better maintained where the seeds have been properly stored. 
The soil is also usually in the best condition for receiving the seeds in the spring, and lighter 
covering is possible. 

It must be remembered that the seed of the oaks, nuts, and cherries must not be permitted to 
become thoroughly dry. Chestnut, beech, and the oaks are especially delicate in this respect, so 
that with these species it is always safest to plant as soon as the seed is ripe. 

The forest-tree nursery should be placed in deep, moist, well-drained loam, and should be 
thoroughly cultivated. 

It should be so arranged as to reduce hand work to a minimum. All the tree seeds except 
birch and the conifers, which must be grown under screens, can be sown in drills, 3 or i feet apart, 
thus making horse cultivation possible. 

Hand weeding is important, for the tiny seedlings of many trees are very delicate, and the 
more vigorous grasses will quickly choke them out if left unprotected. Where a large nursery is 
made, frequent use of the harrow-toothed cultivator is most desirable, for it keeps a dust blanket 
on the surface of the soil which prevents excessive evaporation and insures the most perfect soil 
conditions obtainable through culture. Prompt attention is a requisite of successful nursery 
management. 

Seedlings of box elder, silver maple, red maple, catalpa, black locust, and cottonwood are 
rampant growers the first season, and their growth may be checked, to make transplanting less 
difficult, by sowing the seed thick in broad drills. Black wild cherry, the elm, the 'ash, honey 
locust, black walnut, tulip, crab apple, hackberry, linden, and coffee tree are of moderate growth 
and easily attain transplanting size the first year. The oaks and the nut trees generally, hard 
maple, beech, and hawthorn will usually be benefited by remaining two or three years iu the 
nursery. The birches should be transplanted from the seed bed to the nursery row the sec(md 
year, and set in permanent forest the third. 

While the cone beariug trees are more difiticult to manage than the broad-leafed species, it will 
be found advantageous to the farmer to grow his own conifers. Not only are coniferous trees 
(pines, spruces, cedars, larches, etc.) more diflicult to transplant, but they are disastrously affected 
by the drying of their roots; and in the operations of commercial nurseries — digging, storing, and 
packing — as well as in transit, tliere is more or less danger from this cause. It will frequentlj^ 
happen, too, that plants thus injured, unless the injury be very severe indeed, will appear in good 
condition when received, so that the purchaser accepting them will be disappointed in his stand, 
whatever care he takes in planting the stock. Even should the cost of growing the cone-bearing 
trees be more than it would cost to purchase them, as will often be the case if the time of the 
grower be considered, the trees will prove cheaper in the end, because favorable weather can be 
chosen for transplanting them; they can be dug as needed, and absolutely protected from drying 
out during the brief interval between digging and planting. 

Farmers living adjacent to the pineries can easily secure seed by gathering the cones just 
before they burst open and spreading them in a thin layer until sufliciently dry to open, when the 
seed will fall out. The same method is used in securing all seeds save the red cedar, the fruit of 
which is a gummy berry. The berries of the cedar should be soaked for several days in water, 
then rubbed together to remove as much of the gum as possible, when tliey may be planted or 
mixed in sand and kept frozen during winter. A bath in weak lye will hasteu the cleaning process. 
The seeds of the remaining conifers are kept dry over winter. They can be purchased of leading 
seedsmen throughout the country, and, as a rule, come true to name, though difiiiculty regarding 
the Eocky Mountain species is sometimes experienced. As seeds lose their vitality to a consider- 
able degree the second year, and to a much greater degree thereafter, it is important to secure 
them fresh. 

A well-drained, preferably sandy, loam should be chosen and the seed bed prepared as is usual 
for cold frames, so that as soon as the seed is planted the bed can be shaded. It should be open to 
the air on all sides, and the seed may be sown broadcast in the bed, or in drills a few inches apart. 
The seed should be covered but little, if any, more than its own depth. Pine, spruce, and Douglas 
spruce seed usually germinates in eighteen to twenty days, red cedar in two to six months, and 



286 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

larch in twenty to thirty days. Shortly after the trees are up, or at any time dnriug the tirst sum- 
mer, a disease called "damping off" is liable to attack them. This is a fungous growth, and results 
in the decay of the tiny seedlings at the ground. It is often very destructive. The only remedy 
is to sow clean dry sand among the seedlings and withhold water for a few days. This is not 
always effective, but it will usnally check the disease. 

The shade for the seed bed is variously made. In the large nurseries it is usually a shed, 
roofed and sided with laths, but this would be too expensive for a farm nursery. Useful shades are 
made by laying brush across supports or by bunches of rushes or swamp grass similarly jjlaced, 
but of course these are more difficult to keep in order. Where i^roper attention is paid to ventil- 
ation, an inexpensive shade can be made by tacking cheap sheeting to a frame to rest upon 
supports running along the side of the bed. 

It may be advisable sometimes to purchase one or two year old seedlings from reliable growers. 
They should be planted, in shaded beds, about 3 inches apart, in rows to 12 inches apart. It 
will be necessary to keep them shaded one to three years, according to their rate of growth. The 
oftener the cone-bearing trees are transplanted before being set permanently the better, as by this 
process the growth of fibrous roots close to the collar is encouraged. Especial care must be taken 
in handling conifers to prevent their roots from drying in the least, as whenever the roots dry it 
is almost impossible to make the trees live. The seedlings should be packed in damp moss at the 
nursery, and as soon as received the roots should be puddled in liquid mud and heeled in in a 
shaded place. The heeling in should be carefully done, the line soil pressing close upon the roots, 
but not covering the tops. In a shaded place the trees may be left thus iTutil the roots begin 
growth. In planting it is best to carry the trees in a bucket, with just enough water to cover the 
roots. They should be planted firmly and be well trampled, and a little loose soil dusted over the 
trampled surface to prevent baking. JSTo tree should be set much deeper than it stood before, and 
this is specially important in transplanting conifers. 

Conifers are ready for setting in plantations when from two to six years old. Larches can 
usually be set when two or three years old, the pines and cedars when from three to five years old, 
and the spruces when from four to six years. 

How TO Treat the Wood Lot. 

In the northeastern States it is the custom to have connected with the farm a piece of virgin 
woodland, commonly called the wood lot. Its object jDrimarily is to supply the farmer with the 
firewood, fence material, and such dimension timbers as he may need from time to time for repairs 
on buildings, wagons, etc. 

As a rule, the wood lot occupies, as it ought to, the poorer part of the farm, the rocky or 
stony, the dry or the wet portions, which are not well fitted for agricultural crops. As a nrle, it 
is treated as it ought not to be, if the intention is to have it serve its purpose continuously; it is 
cut and culled without regard to its reproduction. 

As far as firewood supplies go, the careful farmer will first use the dead and dying trees, 
broken limbs, and leavings, which is quite proper. The careless man avoids the extra labor which 
such material requires, and takes whatever splits best, no matter whether the material could be 
used for better j)urposes or not. 

When it comes to the cutting of other material, fence rails, posts, or dimension timber, the 
general rule is to go into the lot and select the best trees of the best kind for the purpose. This 
looks at first sight like the natural, most practical way of doing. It is the method which the 
lumberman pursues when he "culls" the forest, and is, from his point of view perhaps, justifiable, 
for he only desires to secure at once what is most profitable in the forest. But for the farmer 
who i)r-oposes to use his wood lot continuously for supplies of this kind, it is a method detrimental 
to his object, and in time it leaves him with a lot of poor, useless timber which encumbers the 
ground and prevents the growth of a better crop. 

Our woods are mostly composed of many species of trees; they are mixed woods. Some of 
the species are valuable for some si:)ecial purposes, others are applicable to a variety of purposes, 
and again others furnish but poor material for anything but firewood, and even for that use they 
may not be of the best. 



IMPROVING THE CROP. 



287 



Among the most valuable in the northeastern woods we should mention the white pine— king 
of all— the white ash, white and chestnut oak, hickories, tulip tree, black walnut, and black cherry, 
the last three being now nearly exhausted; next, spruce and hemlock, red pine, sugar maple, 
chestnut, various oaks of the black or red oak tribe, several species of ash and birch, black locust; 
lastly, elms and soft maples, basswood, poplars, and sycamore. 

Now, by the common practice of culling the best it is evident that gradually all the best trees 
of the best kinds are taken out, leaving only inferior trees or inferior kinds— the weeds among 
trees, if one may call them such— and thus the wood lot becomes well-nigh useless. 

It does not supply that for which it was intended ; the soil, which was of little use for anything 
but a timber crop before, is still further deteriorated under this treatment, and being compacted 
by the constant running of cattle, the starting of a crop of seedlings is made neariy impossible. 
It would not pay to turn it into tillage ground or pasture; the farm has by so much lost in value. 
In other words, instead of using the interest on his capital, interest and capital have been used 
up together; the goose that laid the golden egg has been killed. 

This is not necessary if only a little system is brought into the management of the wood lot 
and the smallest care is taken to avoid deterioration and secure reproduction. 

IMPKOA'EMENT CtlTTIKGS. 

The first care should be to improve the crop in its composition. Instead of culling it of its 
best material, it should be culled of its weeds, the poor kinds, which we do not care to reproduce, 
and which, like all other weeds, propagate themselves only too readily. This weeding must not, 
however, be done all at once, as it could be in a field crop, for in a full-grown piece of woodland 
each tree has a value, even the weed trees, as soil cover. 

The great secret of success in all crop production lies in the regulating of water supplies; the 
manuring in part and the cultivating entirely, as well as drainage and irrigation, are means to 
this end. In forestry these means are usually not practicable, and hence other means are resorted 
to. The principal of these is to keep the soil as much as possible under cover, either by the shade 
which the foliage of the tall trees furnishes, or by that from the underbrush, or by the litter which 
accumulates and in decaying forms a humus cover, a most excellent mulch. 

A combination of these three conditions, viz, a dense crown cover, woody underbrush where 
the crown cover is interrupted, and a heavy layer of well-decomposed humus, gives the best result. 
Under such conditions, first of all, the rain, being intercepted by the foliage and litter, reaches the 
ground only gradually, and therefore does not compact the soil as it does in the open field, but 
leaves it granular and open, so that the water can readily penetrate and move in the soil. Secondly, 
the surface evaporation is considerably reduced by the shade and lack of air circulation in the dense 
woods, so that more moisture remains for the use of the trees. When the shade of the crowns 
overhead (the so-called "crown cover," or "canopy,") is perfect but little undergrowth will be seen; 
but where the crown cover is interrupted or imperfect an undergrowth will appear. If this is 
composed of young trees, or even shrubs, it is an advantage, but if of weeds, and especially grass, 
it is a misfortune, because these transpire a great deal more water than the woody plants and 
allow the soil to deteriorate in structure and therefore in water capacity. 

Some weeds anil grasses, to be sure, are capable of existing where but little light reaches the 
soil. When they appear it is a sign to the forester that he must be careful not to thin out the 
crown cover any more. When the more light-needing weeds and grasses appear it is a sign that 
too much light reaches the ground, and that the soil is already deteriorated. If this state 
continues, the heavy drain which the transpiration of these weeds makes upon the soil moisture, 
without any appreciable conservative action by their shade, will injure the soil still further. 

The overhead shade or crown cover maybe imperfect because there are not enough trees on 
the ground to close up the interspaces witJi their crowns, or else because the kinds of trees which 
make up the forest do not yield much shade; thus it can easily be observed that a beech, a sugar 
maple, a hemlock is so densely foliaged that but little light reaches the soil through its crown 
canopy, while an ash, an oak, a larch, when full grown, in the forest, allows a good deal of light to 
penetrate. 

Hence, in our weeding process for the improvement of the wood crop, we must be careful not 
to interrupt the crown cover too much, and thereby deteriorate the soil conditions. And for the 



288 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 

same reiisou, in the selection of the kinds that are to be left or to be taken out, we sUall not only 
consider tbeir use value, but also their shading value, trying to bring about such a mixture of 
shady and less shady kinds as will insure a continuously satisfactory crown cover, the shade- 
enduring kinds to ocfupy the lower stratum in the crown canopy, and to be more numerous than 
the light-needing. 

The forester, therefore, watches first the conditions of his soil cover, and his next care is for 
the condition of the overhead shade, the "crown cover;" for a change in the (condition of the 
latter brings change into his soil conditions, and, inversely, from the changes in the i)lant cover of 
the soil be judges whether he mayor may not change the light conditions. The changes of the 
soil cover teach him more often when "to let alone" than when to go on with his operations of 
thinning out; that is to say, he can rarely stop short of that condition which is most favorable. 
Hence the improvement cuttings must be made with caution and only very gradually, so that no 
deterioration of the soil conditions be invited. We have repeated this injunction again and again, 
because all success in the management of future wood crops depends upon the care bestowed upon 
the maintenance of favorable soil conditions. 

As the object of this weeding is not only to remove the undesirable kinds from the present 
crop, but to prevent as much as possible their reappearance in subsequent crops, it may be 
advisable to cut such kinds as sprout readily from the stump in summer time — June or July — 
when the stumyis are likely to die without sprouting. 

It may take several years' cutting to bring the composition of the main crop into such a 
condition as to satisfy us. 

METHODS OF REPRODUCING THE WOOD CROP. 

Then comes the period of utilizing the main crop. As we propose to keep the wood lot as 
such, and desire to reproduce a satisfactory wood croji in place of the old one, this latter must be 
cut always with a view to that reproduction. There are various methods pursued for this purpose 
in large forestry operations which are not practicable on small areas, especially when these are 
expected to yield only small amounts of timber, and these little by little as required. It is 
possible, to be sure, to cut the entire crop and replant a new one, or else to use the ax skillfully 
and bring about a natural reproduction in a few years ; but we want in the iiresent case to lengthen 
out the period during which the old crop is cut, and hence must resort to other methods. There 
are three methods practicable. 

We may clear narrow strips or bands entirely, expecting the neighboring growth to furnish 
the seed for covering the strip with a new crop — "the strip method;" or we can take out single 
trees here and there, relying again on an aftergrowth from seed shed by the surrounding trees — 
the "selection method;'' or, finally, instead of single trees, we may cut entire groups of trees 
here and there in the same manner, the gaps to be tilled, as in the other cases, with a young crop 
from the seed of the surrounding trees, and this we may call the " group method." 

In the strip method, in order to secure sufficient seeding of the cleared strip, the latter must 
not be so broad that the seed from the neighboring growth can not be carried over it by the wind. 
In order to get the best results from the carrying power of the wind (as well as to avoid windfalls 
when the old growth is suddenly opened on the windward side) the strips should be located on the 
side opposite the prevailing winds. Oaks, beech, hickory, and nut trees in general with heavy 
seeds will not seed over any considerable breadth of strip, while with maple and ash the breadth 
may be made twice as great as the height of the timber, and the mother trees with lighter seeds, 
like spruce and pine, or birch and elm, may be able to cover strips of a breadth of three or four 
and even eight times their height. But such broad strips are hazardous, since wnth insufficient 
seed fall, or fail years in the seed, the strip may remain exposed to sun and wind for several years 
without a good cover and deteriorate. It is safer, therefore, to make the strips no broader than 
just the height of the neighboring timber, in which case not only has the seed better chance of 
covering the ground, but the soil and seeflliugs have more protection from the mother crop. In 
hilly country the strips must not be made in the direction of the slope, for the water would wash 
out soil and seed. 

Every year, then, or from time to time, a new strip is to be cleared and "regenerated." But 



REPRODUCING THE WOOD LOT. 



289 



if the first strip failed to cover itself satisfactorily the operation is stopped, for it would be 
unwise to remove the seed trees further by an additional clearing. Accordingly, this method 
should be used only where the kinds composing the mother crop are frequent and abundant 
seeders and give assurance of reseeding the strips quickly and successfully. 

The other two methods have greater chances of success in that they preserve the soil 
conditions more surely, and there is more assurance of seeding from the neighboring trees on all 

^'^^%ie selection method, by which single trees are taken out all over the forest, is the same as 
has been practiced by the farmer and lumberman hitherto, only they have forgotten to look after 
the young crop. Millions of seed may fall to the ground and germinate, but perish from the 
excessive shade of the mother trees. If we wish to be successful in establishing a new crop it 
will be necessary to be ready with 
the ax all the time and give light 
as needed by the young crop. The 
openings madeby taking out single 
trees are so small that there is 
great danger of the young crop 
being lost, or at least impeded in 
its development, because it is im- 
practicable to come in time to its 
relief with the ax. 

The best method, therefore, in 
all respects, is the (jroiqj method, 
which not only secures continuous 
soil cover, chances for full seeding, 
and more satisfactory light condi- 
tions, but requires less careful at- 
tention, or at least permits more 
freedom of movement and adapta- 
tion to local conditions (fig. 39). 

It is especially adapted to mixed 
woods, as it permits securing for 
each species the most desirable 
light conditions by making the 
openings larger or smaller, accord- 
ing as the species we wish to favor 
in a particular group demand more 
or less shade. Further, when dif- 
ferent species are ripe for regener- 
ation at different times, this plan 
makes it possible to take them in 
hand as needed. Again, we can 
begin with one group or we can 
take in hand several groups simultaneously, as may be desirable and practicable. 

We start our groups of new crop either where a young growth is already on the ground, 
enlarging around it, or where old timber has reached its highest usefulness and should be cut in 
ordei that we may not lose the larger growth which young trees would make; or else we cb cose a 
place which is but poorly stocked, where, if it is not regenerated, the soil is likely to deteriorate 
further The choice is attected further by the consideration that dry situations should be taken 
in hand earlier than those in which the soil and site are more fevorable, and that some species 
reach maturity and highest use value earlier than others and should therefore be reproduced 
earlier. In short, we begin the regeneration when and where the necessity for it exists or where 
the young crop has the best chance to start most satisfactorily with the least artificial aid. Ot 
course advantage should be taken of the occurrence of seed years, which come at diflerent inter- 
vals with different species. 
H. Doc. 181 19 




Fio 39 -Showing plan of group system in regenerating a forest crop. 1,2, 3, 4, suc- 
cessive groups of young timber, 1 being the oldest, i the youngest, 5 old Umber; a, 
wind mantle, specially managed to secure protection. 



290 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



If we begiu with a group of youug growth already on the ground, our plan is to remove 
gradually the old trees standing over them when no longer required for shade, and then to cut 
away the adjoining old growth and enlarge the opening in successive narrow bands around the 
young growth. When the first baud has seeded itself satisfactorily, and the young growth has 
come to require more light (which may take several years), we remove another baud around it, and 
thus the regeneration progresses. Where no young growth already exists, of course the first 
opening is made to afford a start, and afterwards the enlargement follows as occasion requires. 

SIZE OF OPENINGS. 

The si7>e of the openings and the rapidity with which they should be enlarged vary, of course, 
with local conditions and the species which is to be favored, the light-needing species requiring 
larger openings and quicker light additions than the shade-enduring. It is diflScult to give any 




Fig. 40. — Appearance of 



ttin(j. 
:eiieratiou by group method. 



rules, since the modifications due to local conditions • are so manifold, requiring observation and 
judgment. Caution in not opening too much at a time and too quickly may avoid failure in 
securing good stands. 

In general, the first ojienings may contain from one-fourth to one-half an acre or more, and 
the gradual enlarging may progress by clearing bands of a breadth not to exceed the height of the 
surrounding timber. 

The time of the year when the cutting is to be done is naturally in winter, when the farmer 
has the most leisure, and when the wood seasons best after felling and is also most readily moved. 
Since it is expected that the seed fallen in the autumn will sprout in the spring, all wood should, 
of course, be removed from the seed ground. 

The first opening, as well as the enlargement of the groups, should not be made at once, but 
by gradual thinning out, if the soil is not in good condition to receive and germinate the seed and 
it is impracticable to put it in such condition by artificial means — hoeing or plowing. 

It is, of course, quite practicable — nay, sometimes very desirable — to prepare the soil for the 
reception and germination of the seed. Where undesirable undergrowth has started it should be 



EEPKODUCIKG THE WOOD LOT. 291 

cut out, and where tlie soil is deteriorated with weed growth or compacted by the trampiug of 
cattle it should be hoed or otherwise scarified, so that the seed may flud favorable conditions. To 
let pigs do the plowing and the covering of acorns is not an uncommon practice abroad. 

It is also quite proper, if the reproduction from the seed of the surrounding mother trees does 
not progress satisfactorily, to assist, when an opportunity is afforded, by planting such desirable 
species as were or were not in the comj)Osition of the original crop. 

It may require ten, twenty, or forty years or more to secure the reproduction of a wood lot in 
this way. A new growth, denser and better than the old, with timber of varying age, will be the 
result. The progress of the I'egeneration in groups is shown on the accom]Danyiug plan, the 
different shadings showing the successive additions of young crop, the darkest denoting the oldest 
parts, first regenerated. If we should make a section through any one of the groups, this, ideally 
represented, would be like fig. 40, the old growth on the outside, the youngest new crop 
adjoining it, and tiers of older growths of varying height toward the center of the group. 

.VIND MANTLE. 

On the plan there will be noted a strip specially shaded surrounding the entire plat (fig. 39, a), 
representing a strip of timber which should surround the farmer's wood lot, and which he should 
keep as dense as possible, especially favoring undergrowth. This part, if practicable, should be 
kept reproduced as coppice or by the method of selection, i. e., by taking out trees here and there. 
When gaps are made, they should be filled, if possible, by introducing shade-enduring kinds, 
which, like the spruces and firs and beech, retain their branches down to the foot for a long time. 
This mantle is intended to protect the interior against the drying influence of winds, which are 
bound to enter the small wood lot and deteriorate the soil. The smaller the lot the more necessary 
aud desirable it is to maintain such a protective cover or windbreak. 



Besides reproducing a wood crop from the seed of mother trees or by planting, there is another 
reproduction possible by sprouts from the stuunj. This, to be sure, can be done only with broad- 
leafed species, since conifers, with but few exceptions, do not sprout from the stump. When a 
wood lot is cut over and over again, the reproduction taking place by such sprouts we call 
" coppice." 

Most wooded areas in the Eastern States have been so cut that reproduction from seed could 
not take place, and hence we have large areas of coppice, with very few seedling trees interspersed. 
As we have seen in the chapter on "How trees grow," the sprouts do not develop into as good 
trees as the seedlings. They grow faster, to be sure, in the beginning, but do not grow as tall and 
are apt to be shorter lived. 

For the production of firewood, fence, aud post material, coppice management may suffice, 
but nod for dimension timber. And even to keep the coppice in good reproductive condition care 
should be taken to secure a certain proportion of seedling trees, since the old stumps, after 
repeated cutting, fail to sprout and die out. 

Soil and climate influence the success of the coppice; shallow soils produce weaker but more 
numerous sprouts, and are more readily deteriorated by the repeated laying bare of the soil; a 
mild climate is most favorable to a continuance of the reproductive power of the stump. 

Some species sprout more readily than others; hence the composition of the crop will change 
unless attention is paid to it. In the coppice, as in any other management of a natural wood 
crop, a desirable composition must first be secured, which is done by timely improvement cuttings, 
as described in a previous section. 

The best trees for coppice in the Northeastern States are the chestnut, various oaks, hickory, 
ash, elm, maples, basswood, and black locust, which are all good sprouters. 

When cutting is done for reproduction the time and manner are the main care. The best 
results are probably obtained, both financially and with regard to satisfactory reproduction, when 
the coppice is cut between the twentieth and thirtieth year. All cutting must be done in early 
spring or in winter, avoiding, however, days of severe frost, which is apt to sever the bark from 
the trunk and to kill the cambium. Cutting in summer kills the stump, as a rule. The cut should 



292 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



be made slanting downw^ard, aad as smooth as possible, to prevent collection of moisture on tbe 
stump and the resulting decay, and as close as possible to the ground, where the stump is less 
exposed to injuries, aud the new siirouts, starting close to the ground, may strike independent roots. 
Fail places or gaps should be filled by ])laDting. This can be readily done by bending to the 
ground some of the neighboring sprouts, when 2 to 3 years old, notching, fastening them down 
with a wooden hook or a stone, aud covering them with soil a short distance {i to (> inches) from 
the end. The sprout will then strike root, and after a year or so may be severed from the mother 
stock by a sharp cut (fig. 41). 

For the recuperation of the crop, it is desirable to maintain a supjily of seedling trees, which 
may be secured either by the natural seeding of a few mother trees of the old crop which are left, 
or by planting. This kind of management, copi^ice with seedling or standard trees intermixed, if 
the latter are left regularly and well distributed over the wood lot, leads to a management called 
"standard coppice." In this it is attempted to avoid the drawbacks of the coppice, viz, failure to 
produce dimension material and ruuiung out of the stocks. The former object is, however, ouly 
partially accomplished, as the trees grown without sufficient side shading are apt to produce 

branchy boles and heuce 
knotty timber, besides in- 
juringthe coppiceby their 
shade. 

PLAN OF MANAGEMENT. 

In order to harmon- 
ize the requirements of 
the wood lot from a sylvi- 
cultural point of view and 
the needs of the farmer 
for wood supplies, the cut- 
ting must follow some sys- 
tematic plan. 

The imijrovement cut- 
tings need not, in point 
of time, have been made 
all over the lot before be- 
ginning the cuttings for 
regeneration, provided they have been made in those parts which are to be regenerated. Both 
the cuttings may go on simultaneously, and this enables the farmer to gauge the amount of cutting 
to his consumption. According to the amount of wood needed, one or more groups may be started 
at the same time. It is, however, desirable, for the sake of renewing the crop systematically, to 
arrange the groups in a regular order over the lot. 




Fic 41 — Method ot layer u"- to pro 1 ice new stocks lu coppice w od 



How TO Cultivate the AVood Crop. 

Where only firewood is desired — i. e., wood Avithout special form, size, or quality — no attention 
to the crop is necessary, except to insure that it covers the ground completely. Nevertheless, even 
in such a crop, which is usually managed as a coppice, some of the operations described in this 
chapter may prove advantageous. Where, however, not only quantity but useful quality of the 
crop is also to be secured, the development of the wood crop may be advantageously influenced 
by controlling the supply of light available to the individual trees. 

It may be proper to repeat here briefly what has been explained in previous pages regarding 
the influence of light on tree development. 



EFFECT of light ON WOOD PKODUCTION. 



Dense shade preserves soil moisture, the most essential element for wood production; a close 
stand of suitable kinds of trees secures this shading and prevents the surface evaporation of soil 
moisture, making it available for wood production. But a close stand also cuts off side light and 



IMPROVING THE CROP. 293 

confines the lateral growing space, and hence i)revents the development of side branches and 
forces the growth energy of the soil to exj)eiid itself in height growth; the crown is carried tip, 
and long, cylindrical shafts, clear of branches, are developed. A close stand thus secures desir- 
able form and quality. Yet, since the quality of wood production or accretion (other things being 
equal) is in direct proportion to the amount of foliage and the available light, and since an open 
position promotes the development of a larger crown and of more foliage, an open stand tends to 
secure a larger amount of wood accretion on each tree. On the other hand, a tree grown in the 
open, besides producing more branches, deposits a larger proportion of wood at the base, so that 
the shape of the bole becomes more conical, a form which in sawing proves unprofitable; whereas 
a tree grown in the dense forest both lengthens its shaft at the expense of branch growth and 
makes a more even deposit of wood over the whole trunk, thus attaining a more cylindrical form. 
While, then, the total amount of wood i)roduction per acre may be as large in a close stand of 
trees as in an open one (within limits), the distribution of this amount among a larger or smaller 
number of individual trees produces different results in the quality of the crop. And since the 
size of a tree or log is important in determining its usefulness and value, the sooner the individual 
trees reach useful size, without suffering in other points of quality, the more profitable the whole 
crop. 

NUMBER OF TREES PER ACRE. 

The care of the forester, then, should be to maintain the smallest number of individuals on 
the ground which will secure the greatest amount of wood growth in the most desirable form of 
which the soil and climate are capable, without deteriorating the soil conditions. He tries to 
secure the most advantageous individual development of single trees without suffering the disad- 
vantages resulting from too open stand. The solution of this problem requires the greatest skill 
and judgment, and rules can hardly be formulated with precision, since for every sjjecies or combi- 
nation of species and conditions these rules must be modified. 

In a well-established young crop the number of seedlings per acre varies greatly, from 3,000 
to 100,000, according to soil, species, and the manner in which it originated, whether j)lanted, sown, 
or seeded naturally.' Left to themselves, the seedlings, as they develop, begin to crowd each 
other. At first this crowding results only in increasing the height growth and in preventing the 
spread and full development of side branches; by and by the lower branches failing to receive 
sufficient light finally die and break oft' — the shaft "clears itself." Then a distinct development of 
definite crowns takes place, and after some years a difference of height growth in different indi- 
viduals becomes marked. Not a few trees fail to reach the general upper crown surface, and 
being more or less overtopped, we can readily classify them according to height and development 
of crown, the superior or "dominating" ones growing more and more vigorously, the inferior or 
"dominated" trees falling more and more behind, and finally dying for lack of light, and thus a 
natural reduction in numbers, or thinning, takes place. This natural thiuuing goes on with vary- 
ing rates at different ages, continuing through the entire life of the crop; so that, while only 4,000 
trees per acre may be requiied in the tenth year to make a dense crown cover or normally close 
stand, untouched by man, in the fortieth year 1,200 would suffice to make the same dense cover, 
in the eightieth year 35(i would be a full stand, and in the one hundredth not more than 250, accord- 
ing to soil and species, more or less. As we can discern three stages in the development of a 
single tree — the juvenile, adolescent, and mature — so, in the development of a forest growth, we 
may distinguish three corresponding stages, namely, the "thicket" or brushwood, the "pole-wood" 
or sapling, and the "timber" stage. During the thicket stage, in which the trees have a bushy 
appearance, allowing hardly any distinction of stem and crown, the height growth is most rapid. 
This period may last, according to conditions and species, from five or ten to thirty aud even forty 
years — longer on poor soils aud with shade-enduring species, shorter with light-needing species on 
good soils — and, while it lasts, it is in the interest of the wood grower to maintain the close stand, 
which produces the long shaft, clear of branches, on which at a later period the wood that makes 
valuable clear timber may accumulate. Form development is now most inqjortant. The lower 
branches are to die and break oft' before they become too large. With light-needing species and 



'If the cioi) does not, at 3 to 5 years of age, sliade the ground well, ■with a comiilete crown cover or canopy, it 
can not be said to be well established and should be filled out by planting. 



294 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

witli deciduous trees generally this dying off is accomplished more easily than with conifers. The 
spruces and even the white pine require very dense shading to "clear" the shaft. During this 
period it is only necessary to weed out the undesirable kinds, such as trees infested by insect and 
fungus, shrubs, sickly, stunted, or bushy trees which are apt to overtop and prevent the develop- 
ment of their better neighbors. In short, our attention is now devoted mainly to impi-oving the 
composition of the croj). 

WEEDING AND CLEANING THE CROP. 

This weeding or cleaning is easily done with shears when the crop is from 3 to 5 years old. 
Later, mere cutting back of the undesirable trees with a knife or hatchet may be practiced. In 
well-made artificial plantations this weeding is rarely needed until about the eighth or tenth year. 
But in natural growths the young crop is sometimes so dense as to inordinately interfere with the 
development of the individual trees. The stems then remain so slender that there is danger of 
their being bent or broken by storm or snow when the growth is thinned out later. In such cases 
timely thinning is indicated to stimulate 'more rapid develoi^ment of the rest of the crop. This 
can be done most cheaply by cutting swaths or lanes 1 yard wide and as far apart through the 
crop, leaving sti-ips standing. The outer trees of the strip, at least, will then shoot ahead and 
become the main crop. These weeding or improvement cuttings, which must be made gradually 
and be reijeated every two or three years, are best performed during the summer months, or in 
August and September, when it is easy to judge what should be taken out. 

METHODS OF THINNING. 

During the "thicket" stage, then, which may last from 10 to 25 and more years, the crop is 
gradually brought into proiier composition and condition. When the "pole-wood" stage is 
reached, most of the saplings being now from 3 to G inches in diameter and from 15 to 25 feet in 
height, the variation in sizes and in appearance becomes more and more marked. Some of the 
taller trees begin to show a long, clear shaft and a definite crown. The trees can be more or less 
readily classified into height and size classes. The rate at which the height growth has progressed 
begins to fall off and diameter growth increases. Now comes the time when attention must be 
given to increasing this diameter growth by reducing the number of individuals, and thus having 
all the wood which the soil can ijroduce deposited on fewer individuals. This is done by judicious 
and often repeated thinning, taking out some of the trees, and thereby giving more light and 
increasing the foliage of those remaining; and as the crowns expand, so do the trunks increase 
their diameter in direct proportion. These thinnings must, however, be made cautiously lest at 
the same time the soil is exposed too much, or the branch growth of those trees which are to 
become timber wood is too much stimulated. So varying are the conditions to be considered, 
according to soil, site, species, and development of the crop, that it is well-nigh impossible, 
without a long and detailed discussion, to lay down rules for the proper procedure. In addition 
the opinions of authorities differ largely both as to manner and degree of thinning, the old school 
advising moderate and the new school severer thinnings. 

For the farmer, who can give iDersonal attention to detail and whose object is to grow a variety 
of sizes and kinds of wood, the following general method may perhaps be most useful. 

First determine which trees are to be treated as the main crop or "final-harvest" crop. For 
this, 300 to 500 trees per acre of the best grown and most useful kinds may be selected, which 
should be distributed as uniformly as possible over the acre. These, then — or as many as may 
live till the final harvest — are destined to grow into timber and are to form the special favorites as 
much as possible. They may at first be marked to insure recognition; later on they will be readily 
distinguished by their superior development. The rest, which we will call the " subordinate " 
crop, is then to serve merely as filler, nurse, and soil cover. 

WHAT TREES TO EEMOVE. 

It is now necessary, by careful observation of the surroundings of each of the "final-harvest" 
crop trees, or "superiors," as we may call them, to determine what trees of the "subordinate" 
crop trees, or " inferiors," must be removed. All nurse trees that threaten to overtop the superiors 



THINNING THE WOOD CROP. 295 

must either be cut out or cut back and topped, if that is practicable, so that the crown of the 
superiors can develop freely. Those that are only narrowing in the superiors from the side, with- 
out preventing their free top development, need not be interfered with, especially while they are 
still useful in jireventing the lormation and spreading of side branches on the superiors. As 
soon as the latter have fully cleared their shafts, these crowding inferiors must be removed. Gare 
must be taken, however, not to remove too many at a time, thus opening the crown cover too 
severely and thereby exi^osiug the soil to the drying influence of the sun. Gradually, as the 
crowns of inferiors standing farther away begin to interfere with those of the superiors, the 
inferiors are removed, and thus the full effect of the light is secured iu the accretion of the main 
harvest crop; at the same time the branch growth has been jirevented and the soil has been kept 
shaded. Meanwhile thinnings may also be made in the subordinate croj), in order to secure also 
the most material from this part of the crop. This is done by cutting out all trees that threaten 
to be killed by their neighbors. In this way many a irseful stick is saved and the dead material, 
only good for firewood, lessened. It is evident that trees which in the struggle for existence have 
fallen behind, so as to be overtopped by their neighbors, can not, either by their iireseuce or by 
their removal, influence the remaining growth. They are removed only in order to utilize their 
wood before it decays. 

It may be well to remark again that an undergrowth of woody plants interferes in no way 
with the devolopment of the main crop; on the contrary, aids by its shade iu iireserving favorable 
moisture conditions. Its existence, however, shows in most cases that the crown cover is not 
as dense as it sliould be, and hence that thinning is not required. Grass and weed growth, ou the 
other hand, is emphatically disadvantageous and shows that the crown cover is dangerously open. 

The answer to the three questions, when to begin the thinnings, how severely to thin, and 
how often to repeat the operation, must always depend uj^on the varying appearance of the growth 
and the necessities in each case. The first necessity for interference may arise with light-needing 
species as early as the twelfth or fifteenth year; with shade-enduring, not before the twentieth or 
twenty-fifth year. The ]iecessary severity of the thinning and the repetition are somewhat inter- 
dependent. It is better to thin carefully aiJd repeat the operation oftener than to open up so 
severely at once as to jeopardize the soil conditions. Especially in younger growths and on poorer 
soil, it is best never to open a continuous crown cover so that it could not close up again within 
three to five years; rather repeat the oiierafion oftener. Later, when the trees have attained 
heights of 50 to GO feet and clear boles (which may be in forty to fifty years, according to soil .and 
kind) the thinning may be more severe, so as to require repetition only every six to ten years. 

The condition of the crown cover, then, is the criterion which directs the ax. As soon as the 
crowns again touch or interlace the time has arrived to thin again. In mixed growths it must not 
be overlooked that light-needing species must be specially protected against shadier neighbors. 
Shade-enduring trees, such as the spruces, beech, sugar maple, and hickories, bear overtopping 
for a time and will then grow vigorously when more light is given, while light-needing species, 
like the pines, larch, oaks, and ash, when once suppressed, may never be able to recover. 

Particular attention is called to the necessity of leaving a rather denser "wind mantle" all 
around small groves. In this part of tlie grove the thinning nmst be less severe, unless coniferous 
trees on the outside can be encouraged by severe thinning to hold their branches low down, thus 
increasing their value as windbreaks. 

The thinnings, then, while giving to the "final-harvest" crop all the advantage of light for 
promoting its rapid development into serviceable timber size, furnish also better material from 
the subordinate crop. At GO to 70 years of age the latter may have been entirely removed and 
only the originally selected "superiors" remain on the ground, or as many of them as have not 
died and been removed; 250 to 400 of these per acre will make a perfect stand of most valuable 
form and size, ready for the final harvest, which should be made as indicated in the preceding 
chapter. 

The Relation of Forests to Farms. 

That all things in nature are related to each other and interdependent is a common saying, a 
fact doubted by nobody, yet often forgotten or neglected in practical life. The reason is partly 
indifference and partly ignorance as to the actual nature of the relation shii); hence we sufl'er, 
deservedly or not. 



296 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. " 

The farmer's business, more than any other perhaps, depends for its success upon a true 
estimate of and careful regard for this interrelation. He adapts his crop to the nature of the soil, 
the manner of its cultivation to the changes of the seasons, and altogether he shapes conditions 
and places them in their proper relations to each other and adapts himself to them. 

Soil, moisture, and heat are the three factors which, if properly related and utilized, combine 
to produce his crops. In some directions he can control these factors more or less readily ; in others 
they are witlidrawn from his immediate influence, and he is seemingly lielpless. He can maintain 
the fertility of the soil by manuring, by proper rotation of crops, and by deej) culture; he can 
remove surplus moisture by ditching and draining; he can, by irrigation systems, bring water to 
his crops, and by timely cultivation prevent excessive evaporation, thereby rendering more water 
available to the crop; but he can not control the rainfell nor the temperature changes of the sea- 
sons. Eecent attempts to control the rainfall by direct means exhibit one of the greatest follies 
and misconceptions of natural forces we have witnessed during this age. Nevertheless, by indirect 
means the farmer has it in his power to exercise much greater control over these forces than he 
has attempted hitherto. He can prevent or reduce the unfavorable effects of temperature changes ; 
he can increase the available water supplies, and prevent the evil effects of excessive rainfall; he 
can so manage the waters which fall as to get the most benefit from them and avoid the harm 
which they are able to inflict. 

Before attempting to control the rainfall itself by artifice, we shoulrl study how to secure the 
best use of that which falls as it comes within reach of human agencies and becomes available by 
natural causes. 

How poorly we understand the use of these water supplies is evidenced yearly by destructive 
freshets and floods, with the accompanying washing of soil, followed by droughts, low waters, and 
deterioration of agricultural lands. It is claimed that annually in the United States about 200 
square miles of fertile soil are washed into brooks and rivers, a loss of soil capital whicli can not 
be repaired for centuries. At the same time millions of dollars are appropriated yearly in the river 
and harbor bills to dig out the lost farms from the rivers, and many thousands of dollars' worth of 
crops and other property are destroyed by floods aifd overflows; not to count the large loss from 
droughts which this country suffers yearly in one part or the other, and which, undoubtedly, could 
be largely avoided, if we knew how to manage the available water supplies. 

The regulation, proper distribution, and utilization of the rain waters iu humid as well as in 
arid regions— water management — is to be the great problem of successful agriculture in the 
future. 

One of the most powerful means for such water management lies in the proper distribution 
and maintenance of forest areas. Nay, we can say that the most successful water management is 
not possible without forest management. 

THE FOREST WATERS THE FARM. 

Whether forests increase the amount of precipitation within or near their limits is still an 
open question, although there are indications that under certain conditions large, dense forest 
areas may have such an effect. At any rate, the water transpired by the foliage is certain, in 
some degree, to increase the relative humidity near the forest, and thereby increase directly or 
indirectly the water supplies iu its neighborhood. This much we can assert, also, that while 
extended plains and fields, heated by the sun, and hence giving rise to warm currents of air, have 
the tendency to prevent condensation of the passing moisture-bearing currents, forest areas, with 
their cooler, moister air strata, do not have such a tendency, and local showers may therefore become 
more frequent in their neighborhood. But, though no increase in the amount of rainfall may be 
secured by forest areas, the availability of whatever falls is increased for the locality by a well- 
kept and properly located forest growth. The foliage, twigs, and branches break the fall of the 
raindrops, and so does the litter of the forest floor; hence the soil under this cover is not com- 
pacted as in the open field, but kept loose and granular, so that the water can readily penetrate 
and percolate. The water thus reaches the ground more slowly, dripping gradually from the 
leaves, branches, and trunks, and allowing more time for it to sink into the soil. This percolation 
is also made easier by the channels along the many roots. Similarly, on account of the open 
structure of the soil and the slower melting of the snow under a forest cover in spring, where it 



FARM AND FOREST. 



297 



lies a fortnigM to a month longer than in exposed positions and melts with less waste from 
evaporation, the snow waters more fully penetrate the gronnd. Agam, more snow is caught 
and preserved under the forest cover than on the wind-swept fields and prairies. 

ill these conditions operate together, with the result that larger amounts of the water sink 
iuto the forest soil and to greater depths than in open fields. This ™«'f "^ 'V-f^^^f^^f;^;, 
of the reduced evaporation in the cool and still forest a.r, being protected from t^ie two great 
moisture-dissipating agents, snn and wind. By these conditions alone the water -;P^- -^.^f ^ 
in the soil are increased from 50 to 60 per cent over those available on tbe open field. Owing to 
these two causes, then-increased percolation and decreased evaporation-larger amounts o 
moisture become available to feed the springs and subsoil waters, and these become finally 
available to the farm, if the forest is located at a higher elevation than the field The great 
importance of the subsoil water especially and the intiuence of forest areas upon it has so far 
received too little attention and appreciation. It is the subsoil water that is capable of supplying 
the needed moisture in times of drought. 

THE FOREST TEMPERS THE FARM. 

Another method by which a forest belt becomes a conservator of moisture lies in its wind- 
breaking capacity, by which both velocity and temperature of winds are modified a.id evaporation 
from the fields to the leeward is reduced. , ^ , 4. 

On the prairie, wind swept every day and every hour, the farmer has learned to plant a 
wind-break around his buildings and orchards, often only a single row of trees and finds even 
that a desirable shelter, tempering both the hot winds of summer and the cold blasts of muter 
The fields he usually leaves unprotected; yet a wind-break around his crops to the windwanl 
would bring him increased yield, and a timber belt would act still more effectively. Says a 
farmer from Illinois : 

My experieBce is that no^ in coUl and stormy ^-inters fields protected by timber belts yield full "7>P«-^1"'« 
fields not protected yield only one-third of a crop. Twenty-five or thirty years ago we never had any wh«at k.Ued 
Jy winter frost, and every year we had a fall crop of peaches, which is now very rare. At that t.me we had plenty 
of timber around our fields and orchards, now cleared away. 

Not only is the temperature of the winds modified by passing over and through the shaded 
and cooler spaces of protecting timber belts disposed toward the windward and alternating with 
the fields but their velocity is broken and n>oderated, and since with reduced velocity the 
evaporative power of the winds is very greatly reduced, so more water is left avadable for crops. 
Every foot in height of a forest growth will protect 1 rod in distance, and several belts in 
succession would probably greatly increase the effective distance. By preventing deep freezing 
of the soil the winter cold is not so much prolonged, and the frequent fogs and mists that hover 
near forest areas prevent many frosts. That stock will thrive better where it can find protection 
from the cold blasts of winter and from the heat of the sun in summer is a well-established tact. 

THE FOREST PROTECTS THE FARM. 

On the sandy plains, where the winds are apt to blow the sand, shifting it hither and thither, 
a forest belt to the windward is the only means to keep the farm protected. 

In the mountain and hill country the farms are apt to suffer from heavy rams washing away 
the soil Where the tops and slopes are bared of their forest cover, the litter of the forest floor 
burnt up the soil trampled and compacted by cattle and by the patter of the raindrops, tbe water 
can not penetrate the soil readily, but is carried off superficially, especially when the sod is of 
clay and naturally compact. As a result the waters, rushing over the surface down the hill, run 
together in rivulets and streams and acquire such a force as to be able to move loose particles and 
even stones; the ground becomes furrowed with gullies and runs; the fertile soil is washed 
awav the fields below are covered with silt; the roads are damaged; the water courses tear then- 
banks, and later run dry, because the waters that should feed them by subterranean channels have 
been carried away in the flood. 

The forest cover on the hilltops and steep hillsides which are not fit for cultivation prevents 
this erosive action of the waters by the same influence by which it increases available water 
supplies. The important effects of a forest cover, then, are retention of larger quantities of water 



298 PORESTKY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTUEE. 

and carrying them off under ground and giving them up gradually, thus extending the time of 
their usefulness and preventing their destructive action. 

In order to be thoroughly effective, the forest growth must be dense, and, especially, the forest 
floor must not be robbed of its accumulations of foliage, surface mulch, and litter, or its under- 
brush by fire, nor must it be compacted by the tramjiling of cattle. 

On the gentler slopes, which are devoted to cultivation, methods of underdraining, such as 
horizontal ditches partly filled with stones and covered with soil, terracing, and contour plowing, 
deep cultivation, sodding, and proper rotation of crops must be emi^loyed to prevent damage 
from surface waters. 

THE FOREST SUPPLIES THE FARM WITH USEFUL MATERIAL. 

All the benefits derived froni the favorable influence of forest belts u])on water conditions can 
be had without losing any of the useful material that the forest produces. The forest grows to be 
cat and to be utilized; it is a crop to be harvested. It is a crop which, if properly managed, does 
not need to be replanted ; it reproduces itself. 

When once established, the ax, if properly guided by skillful hands, is the only tool necessary 
to cultivate it and to reproduce it. There is no necessity of planting unless the wood lot has been 
mismanaged. 

The wood lot, then, if properly managed, is not only the guardian of the farm, but it is the 
savings bank fi-om which fair interest can be annually drawn, utilizing for the purpose the poorest 
part of the farm. Nor does the wood lot require much attention; it is to the farm what the 
workbasket is to the good housewife — a means with which to improve the odds and ends of time, 
especially during the winter, when other farm business is at a standstill. 

It may be added that the material which the farmer can secure from the wood lot, besides the 
other advantages recited above, is of far greater importance and value than is generally admitted. 

On a well-regulated farm of 160 acres, with its 4 miles and more of fencing and with its wood 
fires in range and stove, at least 25 cords of wood are required annually, besides material for 
repair of buildings, or altogether the annual jHoduct of probably 40 to 50 acres of well-stocked 
forest is needed. The product may represent, according to location, an actual stumpage value of 
from $1 to $3 per acre, a sure crop coming every year without regard to weather, without trouble 
and work, and raised on the poorest part of the farm. It is questionable whether such net results 
could be secured with the same steadiness from any other crop. Nor must it be overlooked that 
the work in harvesting this croj) falls into a time when little else could be done. 

Wire fences and coal fires are, no doubt, good substitutes, but they require ready cash, and 
often the distance of haulage makes them rather expensive. Presently, too, when the vfrgin woods 
have been still further culled of their valuable stores, the farmer who has preserved a sufQciently 
large and well-tended wood lot will be able to derive a comfortable money revenue from it by 
supplying the market with wood of various kinds and sizes. Tbe German State forests, with 
their complicated administrations, which eat up 4 per cent of the gross income, yield, with prices 
of wood about the same as in our country, an annual net revenue of from $1 to $4 and more per 
acre. Why should not the farmer, who does not pay salaries to managers, overseers, and forest 
guards, make at least as much money out of this crop when he is within reach of a market? 

With varying conditions the methods would of course vary. In a general way, if he happens 
to have a virgin growth of mixed woods, the first care would be to improve the composition of the 
wood lot by cutting out the less desirable kinds, the weeds of tree growth, and the poorly grown 
trees which impede the development of more deserving neighbors. 

The wood thus cut he will use as firewood or in any other way, and even if he could not use 
it at all and had to burn it up the operation would pay indirectly by leaving him a better crop. 
Then he may use the rest of the crop, gradually cutting the trees as needed, but he must take care 
that the openings are not made too large, so that they can readily fill out with young growth from 
the seed of the remaining trees, and he must also pay attention to the young aftergrowth, giving 
it light as needed. Thus without ever resorting to planting he may harvest the old timber and 
have a new crop taking its place and perpetuate the wood lot without in any way curtailing his 
use of the same. 



G. PRINCIPLES OF FOREST ECONOMY 



It is possible to carry on forest production, to grow and market forest products, without 
making a special business of it. 

The farmer can manage his wood lot so as to produce and reproduce a valuable wood crop, 
ai^plying all the art of silviculture without any special bookkeeping or other business organization. 
If he performs his own labor and counts it nothing, and if he use his own wood crop in his buildings, 
fences, or in his stove, or can sell it to his neighbors, and if he keep his wood lot on the rocky 
part of his farm or where it serves as protection against damage from winds or waters, he can 
make forest growing at least indirectly profitable without much effort. 

The case is different when we go into forest growing as a business for the market and for 
revenue, for profit on an invested capital, and on expenditures. Then it becomes necessary to 
adopt more systematic procedures, to organize, as in a large mercantile establishment, the business 
in detail, to adopt proper methods of bookkeeping, to keep control of income and outgo, so as to 
insure the profitable running of the business; and, as in all jjroperly conducted business enter- 
prises, the adequacy of the capital employed and of the margin realized must enter into 
consideration. 

Besides the purely technical care of the productive forces to secure the best quantitative 
and qualitative production of material — the highest "gross" yield — there must be exercised a 
managerial care to secure the most favorable relations of expenditure and income, the highest 
"net" yield, a surijlus of money results without which the industry would appear purposeless, at 
least from the standpoint of private enterprise and investment. 

Carried on by government activity for reasons of general cultural advantages, the "net yield" 
or money i:)rofits may be considered secondary, jjerhaps be dispensed with, and it may even appear 
rational to carry on this industry like any other form of i^ublic works, at a loss, Nevertheless, 
even in that case, it would be desirable to organize and systematically carry on the business, to 
keep account, compare, and bring into relation the results with the efforts; to measure the cost. 

The manner in which such systematic business organization and accounting is done must vary 
according to the conditions and peculiarities of the industry, and hence it differs widely in the 
different industries. Thus, although agriculture and forestry, both having to do with productions 
of the soil, would appear of similar nature, yet the conditions of production vary so widely that 
their methods and problems of management and of accounting must also differ considerably. 

In both these industries there is required a fixed and a working capital; but while the 
agriculturist has this outside of land and houses, in movable condition, or can in a short time — at 
the end of each season — make most of it movable, the forest manager has his working capital 
mostly bound up, immovable, represented in the growing timber, the accumulation of many years' 
growth, which may or may not be ready for harvest. 

The length of time with which forestry has to calculate in the creation of its products is an 
element which introduces problems into the calculation of future yields, both gross and net, 
unknown to most other industries and difficult to solve. A further diflSculty, also peculiar to the 
industry, is the fact that it can not be readily determined what part of the forest ought to be left 
as working capital and what part should be harvested; there is no definite time, naturally 
determined, when the harvest is ready, and the question as to which part of the growing timber 
should be left standing for further accumulation of products to be harvested involves compli- 
cated technical as well as financial and managerial considerations. 

Furthermore, there are difficulties arising from the manner in which forest growth develops, 
in estimating or determining the accretions in quantity and value of the crop, and difficulties in 

299 



300 FOEESTEY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 

determining the value of forest soil and in predicting the market value of the products at future 
times when they will be ready for harvest. 

All these difflculties, which are peculiar to the forestry business, at least to a much greater 
degree than to any other business, require much more careful planning and systematic procedure 
than is usually necessary with other industries in which the product is sold or expected to be 
turned to account within a short time from its production and in which the cost of production 
and the price of products can be more readily ascertained, the methods of carrying on the business 
more readily changed or adapted to changing market conditions, and the fixed capital more 
readily liquidated. 

This branch of the forestry business, therefore, in countries where the industry is developed, 
has experienced very elaborate treatment, the purely economic or managerial problems — forest 
economy or forest management — being sharply distinguished from the problems of technical forest 
production, forestry technique. While this latter branch deals with the questions of silviculture, 
forest protection, and forest utilization — how to grow, protect, and iise to best advantage the forest 
products — the former, forest economy, deals with the questions of forest valuation, forestal statics, 
and forest regulation, how to determine the quantity of production, how to compare expenditure 
and result, how to dispose of the forces of production, regulate orderly, and systematically 
manage the forest property so as to produce continuously the most satisfactory money results. 

We speak now, it must not be forgotten, not of the business of chopping down and turning 
inio cash virgin forest growth, a mere crude exploitation of the natural forest resources in which 
the present lumber industry is concerned, but we propose to outline the considerations which are 
needful when we desire to engage in the business of producing the supplies for the lumber industry 
after virgin supplies are exhausted, an industry which so far has remained undeveloped in the 
United States. In the lumber industry of to-day the business methods, as far as the accounting 
of forest supplies are concerned, are of tbe crudest. It consists in ascertaining roughly the 
amount of timber ' which could at once be readily utilized with profit, and no account is made of 
any future values, or rarely so. 

The forest is treated like a quarry or mine from which the pay oie is removed, then to be 
abandoned. If tbere should be anything of value left or developed later, this is worked out in 
the same way, like working over the dumj) of an abandoned mine. In other woids, the lumber 
industry is not a productive but a transformative industry, preparing the product for market; it 
st nds in relation to the forestry industry as that of tlie cattle breeder to that of the butcher, and 
wood production is not a part of it. 

The lumbering industry, concerned in the utilization of forest products, is only the tail end of 
the forestry industry, which latter begins with the systematic management of the forest resources 
for reproduction and continued revenue. 

In the forestry business we consider the forest somewhat like an orchard from which we only 
reap the fruit annually, or like a herd of cattle kept for breeding purposes when we may slaughter 
the old but look for a constant supply of young cattle, growing and maintaining a due proportion 
of calves and heifers. Thus the forester proposes to use annually or ])ei'indically only as much 
as has annually or periodically grown. If, for instance, he had found tliat on his 1,000 acres 
the average annual wood production was 50 cubic feet per acre he would be entitled to cut 
60 X 1,000 = 50,000 cubic feet yearly. 

In order to produce this amount continuously and in such form and size as to be useful, and 
to permit a harvesting every year, there would have to be a certain amount of wood stored up 
and distributed over younger and older trees or stands of trees, which are maintained as stock 

'The ascertainment of the amount of standing tiraher is done in varions ways. Usually tlie judgment of a 
more or less experienced expert, a " timber looker," is taken, who by riding or walking through the woods mentally 
forms an idea of the number of logs that could be got from the land, and of the cost of moving them to the mill. 
An improvement consists in making at least a few trial measurements either of the contents of average acres, or else 
counting and measuring the trees of certain kinds which constitute the main value. This is done especially with 
walnut, cherry, or yellow poplar, and other kinds which are especially valuable and occur scattered through the 
woods; these are now often sold by the tree instead of by the acre or by the M feet B. M. 

A fair method also practiced is to sell by the " scaling " when the logs are cut and collected on "skidways," 
where they are measured and paid for by the M feet B. M. 



PRINCIPLES OF FOREST ECONOMY. 301 

on which the auunal growth takes place (the wood capital), just as iu the herd a certain number of 
cows and bulls and heifers of various ages must be kept to secure a continuous supply of cattle 
and a tolerably uniform revenue on the investment. 

In order to be able to deteruiine what this wood capital is to be and how much the yield or 
revenue that can be expected the manager must have knowledge of the manner and rapidity with 
which the crop develops. 

It is not necessary to go into details of the methods developed to ascertain the amount of 
wood growing per acre at different ages, or how to determine tlie rate of growth and the quanti- 
tative as well as qualitative accretion. It will, however, be needful to indicate briefly what in 
general the results of such measurements would be in order to get an insight as to how these will 
influence the methods of management. 

While individual trees of the same si^ecies may develop very differently and seemingly without 
law, when we deal with larger numbers under forest conditions we may more readily discern that 
a more or less precise law and rate of growth cau be established for each species and condition. 
Of course different soil and climatic conditions and the character of the site influence the rate of 
development of forest growth, yet on all sites the relative rate at various periods remains more or 
less constant. 

Thus for a given species and site we will be able to discern after a brief seeding stage a 
juvenile stage, when trees develop iu height growth at the expense of diameter growth; an 
adolescent stage, when height growth decreases and diameter growth accelerates, and a mature 
stage, when height growth practically ceases and diameter growth, although persisting, declines. 
The growth in volume progresses dili'erently because the A^ery wide rings or layers which are laid 
on in early life, and which denote rajiid diameter growth, cover only a small circumference, while 
the much narrower ring of a later period laid on over a much thicker stem represents a much 
larger volume. 

Thus the rate of growth in white pine decreases in height and thickness practically from the 
jjolewood stage forward, while the rate of growth in volume increases up to the sixtieth or eightieth 
year, and then continues uniformly for a century or more before it declines. 

Or to illustrate in figures, a white pine seedling only 1 foot high and one-half inch in 
diameter, with hardly an appreciable volume of stem, will have reached a height of 30 feet in 
twenty years, 60 feet in forty years, 100 feet in one hundred years ; the width of the rings will have 
averaged one-eighth to one-sixth inch during the first thirty years, while at one hundred years the 
average will have come down to one-twelfth inch; but the volume growth, which during the first 
thirty years was but a fraction of a cubic foot, has after sixty years attained a rate of 1 to 2 cubic 
feet per year, and is kept at that rate to a great age — two hundred and fifty to three hundred 
years. 

If we substitute the red or Norway pine we will find the progress quite dift'erent. It may start 
out at about the same rate as the white pine, and at sixty years may also have attained a rate 
of 2 cubic feet per year, but soon the rate begins to decline, and iu the one hundred and twentieth 
year with a volume of 80 cubic feet the average accretion is only two-thirds cubic foot per year. 
Its average growth for the one hundred and twenty years has now become equal to the current 
rate of growth. 

The tree then passes its maximum capacity of wood production, for from this time on its 
current growth falls behind its average, and from the standpoint of quantitative production the 
tree should now be cut. 

But there is a growth in value which does not progress continuously and iiroportionately 
with the growth in volume, and which is also an important factor in deciding when a tree is 
to be cut. 

Generally in all lumber and timber markets the prices are classified, and sticks, boards, etc., 
are priced according to size as well as freedom from defects and knots. For instance, poplar logs 
under 12 inches may have no price at all, logs of 1(3 to 20 inches may bring $15, those of 20 to 29 
inches may bring $20, and if over 30 inches $25 may be paid per 1,000 feet B. M. contained in the 
log. Hence, although the quantitative development may have decreased in the log of 29 inches, 
it may still pay to hold it over until the better-paying size is attained. 



302 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

In a stand of trees, an acre of forest growth, the progress of wood production is, to be sure, 
different from that in the individual tree, for here the amount of wood to the acre at any time 
depends on the number of trees as well as their volume. And this number, as we have seen, 
rapidly decreases as the trees grow older and crowd each other, when some are killed and 
eliminated from taking part in the total wood production, while the remaining, with the increase 
in light and food supplies, increase their production. This increase in the rate of volume growth 
per acre is very rapid in young woods and on good soil; it reaches a maximum and then declines 
more or less rapidly according to species and site, very much according to the diameter growth of 
the individual. 

The question as to the number of trees which should be allowed to grow per acre, so as to 
produce not only the largest amount of wood, but of useful sizes and best quality, which means 
freedom from knots and technically most serviceable in form and grain, is one of the foremost 
problems of both the technicist and the manager. 

The capacity of our unmanaged virgin forests in this resi^ect is no criterion of the possibili- 
ties, and on the other hand the experience of other countries is only partially applicable to our 
conditions. But as an examijle of what our white pine forests, for instance, may eventually 
produce, we may cite the exj)erience with spruce in Germany, which on good soil is capable of 
producing at the rate of 40 cubic feet per acre each year during the first decade, as much as 120 
cubic feet in the second decade, and at the rate of 200 cubic feet at the age of 40, while at one 
hundred and fifty it shows only an average of 80 cubic feet ]>er acre annually; having declined 
from about the seventieth year ou. 

On poorer soils about one-half of this production may be expected, and if we inquire into the 
total quantity per acre we may find at thirty years 4,200 cubic feet of wood, more than twice that 
amount at sixty years, and 14,000 cubic feet at one hundred years, which appears an enormous 
yield compared to those of our virgin forests, whose yield is depressed by the presence of much 
valueless material and lack of density, and which would in double the time hardly have produced 
such amount. With other species, to be sure, entirely different aggregate amounts would result, 
but in general. the march of progress would be in a similar iiroportion. 

If, however, we have to deal not with seedling trees, but with coppice growth like the sprout 
lauds of our New England States, the progress is entirely different. There are several million 
acres of hard-wood coppice in these States, which, when fairly stocked, produce annually for the 
first twenty-five to thirty years at the rate of a cord or a little less (i. e., about 100 cubic feet solid) 
per acre, but after that time very rapidly decline in production without an equivalent value 
increase, and hence must be cut when the maximum amount of wood jiroduction has been attained; 
this is also necessary from silvicultural reasons, as the stocks, if left too long, are impaired in 
reproductive power. 

To be sure, such woods yield hardly any other material than firewood and fence rails. There 
are many trees to the acre, 1,500 to 2,000 at least, but each one is small, not more than 10 to 12 
inches in diameter at best, hence the supply of firewood is in excess of the home demand and the 
price obtained hardly covers the exjiense of getting the material to market. 

To j)roduce materials of size and quality such as we now require in the lumber market, nature 
has taken from one hundred and fifty to five hundred years, and for the giants of the Pacific, two 
thousand years and more. Even with the best skill in managing the crop, not less than seventy- 
five to one hundred years from the seed will be required to x^roduce logs fit for the mill, such as 
are now considered hardly worth sawing. 

From such measurements and considerations of the quantitative and ijualitative development 
of the crop, the economist will learn that the time at which a forest growth is utilized has an 
important bearing on the more or less intensive and profitable use of the resource. 

When the crop, accumulated during a longer or shorter period, is ripe for the ax depends not 
only upon silvicultural and forest-technical considerations influenced by soil and climatic condi- 
tions and the species composing the forest, but, from a business point of view, uiion market con- 
ditions and financial considerations. The material would hardly be useful for anything but firewood 
or small posts and fencing material at best before twenty years, and again for lumber or x)urposes 
of construction it may be considered fit for use not before one hundred and more years. 



PRINCIPLES OF FOKEST ECONOMY. 



303 



Market conditions may be such that the small demand for the flrst-mentioned class of products 
would make it unprofltable-io cut the growth, and again while, other things being equal, the larger 
dimensions are not only more valuable and in greater demand, but permit a greater and greater 
intensity of exploitation,' yet the long time during which the capital represented in the standing 
timber is tied up, and must therefore produce at compound interest, may have a disadvantageous 
influence upon the balance sheet. 

The determination, therefore, of the length of time during which the growth is to be allowed 
to accumulate, which is called rotation, requires not only consideration by the technicist, but very 
close and complicated calculations by the manager. According to the iioint of view from which 
this jieriod of rotation is determined, we can distinguish and designate these time periods by 
various names which explain themselves, namely, as silvicultural rotation, rotation of greatest 
material production, financial rotation of highest harvest value, rotation of highest forest rev- 
enue, etc.- 

Now, if an owner of land should stock it all with forest growth at the same time, he would 
have to wait twenty, forty, sixty, one hundred years or more, according to the rotation which he 
has recognized as most desirable, before he would have any returns, or else, if he should have a 
tract of virgin growth, all ripe for the ax, and cut it all, he would again have to wait many decades 
without income until the new growth can be profitably cut. 

Such an intermittent revenue is not only undesirable for private enterprise, but also impracti- 
cable, since the cost of caring for the property would have to be provided for without any direct 
income during a long jjeriod. 

For small holdings, such as the wood lot of a farmer, attached to the farm and readily super- 
vised by him while attending to his regular business, the objection to the intermission of revenue 
is not serious altogether he manages his wood lot mainly for his own use. But in growing wood 
crops for the market as a business it is necessary to change the intermittent into an annual revenue, 
or at least one returning in short periods. 

This is done by gradually bringing the forest into such condition that each year, or at least 
during each short period of the rotation, a portion or parcel, as nearly as possible producing the 
same amount of material or revenue, becomes ready for the harvest, until finally the whole forest 
area assumes the condition of what may be called the normal forest, or at least a regulated forest 

Ideally such a forest when so regulated would yield every year or short period of years the 
same amount of material and aj^proximately the same money revenue, the amount to be cut 
annually or periodically being as nearly as possible the amount annually growing. 

If, for instance, we have a pine forest which we propose to manage iTuder a rotation of one 
hundred years, which means that we expect to return for a new crop within one hundred years to 
the same acre we have just cat, and finding from our measurements that all our acres are of a 
uniformly producing capacity, we would have it divided into 100 equally large compartments, each 
stocked with trees just one year older than the preceding, and successfully representing 100 age 
classes, so that we could cut each year one compartment with the same amount of wood just one 
hundred years old. 

' How, with the increaao iu tho sizo of the log, the amount of lumber that cau he obtained from it increases or 
the necessary waste decreases disproportionately may be seen from the subjoined table of output, based upon the 
results of the average sawmill iiractice: 



Diametiir of log (10 feet lung)— 


Eeal contents 
of log in feet, 
U. M. or one- 
twelfth cubic 
foot, allow- 
ing no -waste. 


Contents in 
feet B. M. as 
per Scribner 
or Doyle's 
rules. 


Waste as a 
per cent of 
real contents 
deduced by 
Doyle. ■ 




65 
127 
167 
211 
261 
376 
5K8 
847 
1.046 
1,635 


23 
63 
00 
122 
160 
250 
423 
640 
810 
1.322 


65 
51 
46 
42 
39 
34 
28 
25 
23 
20 




16 inches 














50 inches 





-Note from page 332, Report 1893, "Determining rotation.' 



304 FORESTEY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

The total amouut of wood standing in such a forest at the time of entering upon the work 
would represent the normal stock — the wood capital which must be maintained in order to insure 
an equal annual yield. The average difference of the amounts of wood standing in any two 
compartments would represent the normal annual accretion — the amount of wood which we are 
entitled to harvest if we desire to secure a continuous revenue in equal annual amounts. 

If, for example, on our 100 acres managed with a 100-year rotation we found the average 
annual accretion per acre to be 50 cubic feet, the normal stock — the wood capital — which must be 
maintained on .the acre would be found by the addition of the contents of all compartments, 

as — p X 100 = 250,000 cubic feet. The total normal yield which we are entitled to harvest 

would be represented by the oldest 100 year-old compartment, containing, naturally, 50 x 100 = 
5,000 cubic feet, or 2 per cent of the normal stock. 

If we were to cut more than this normal yield in any year, we would be trenching on the 
capital stock and disturb the attempted equalization of income. If we were to cut less, we would 
unnecessarily accumulate capital in the wood, which would be lying idle and be for the time 
unremunerative. 

The conception of a normal forest, with normal stock, normal accretion, normal distribution 
of age classes, and normal yield, first taught in 17SS, is a most useful one, representing an ideal 
or standard which, although in practice never attained and hardly fully attempted, serves 
nevertheless as a guide in calculation and working phius. 

In practice the growths of different age may be distributed in compartments of separate 
areas or they may be distributed in single trees over the entire area or in groups of trees, and 
thus many variations of the method may occur, but they are all based on the same principle of 
maintaining a wood capital distributed over a number of age classes in such amounts that the 
oldest classes always represent what may be cut as the annual or periodic revenue which has 
accumulated on the entire capital. 

Before even an approach to such ideal and systematic condition can be secured in our virgin 
woods a long time must elapse — the period during which the regulation is gradually perfected, 
the length of which depends upon the condition of the forest area. If begun with a well-stocked 
virgin forest composed of old and young timber of varying age, the conditions are most favoralile, 
and a systematic management can be instituted in a comparatively short time and with a revenue 
from the start. 

In any case it requires a strong mind and persistent effort on the part of the owner to 
accumulate tlie wood capital, to forego, if need be, i>resent revenue for future profits and to keep 
capital and interest account in the growing croj) clearly separate, and to abstain from cutting 
into the wood capital before it has done its full duty when tempting opportunity arises for 
liquidating it. 

This fact, namely, that a diiferentiation into fixed capital and interest as represented in the 
growing timber and the harvest is not readily recognizable — that the choice of when to harvest 
the growth is not based on natural conditions so much as on the opinion and pecuniary interest 
of the owner, and in addition that there is a long time during which he could if he chose turn the 
accumulated fixed capital into cash — may sometimes, to be sure, ai>pear as an advantage from the 
standpoint of private industry, but from that of national economy it is fraught with danger, as it 
is ax)t to lead to uneconomical use of the forest resource whenever the owner finds himself in 
difficulties or sees a temporary advantage in reducing this capital, which can be restituted only 
by the expenditure of a long time. 

If a farmer sells his cattle, horses, plows, etc., and leaves the ground to fallow, he may suffer 
loss individually, but the community does not, or at least only to a slight <legree; for while, to 
be sure, the land does not produce, it accumulates in the fallow conditions the elements of 
fertility, and as a rule is not long allowed to remain unused and can in a season's time be made 
to produce again. 

On the other hand, if a forest growth is removed without reference to the requirements of a 
regulated management, namely, without leaving a wood capital of useful kinds upon which a new 
growth can accumulate, not only is the area of wood production reduced, but in the new spon- 
taneous growth of undesirable kinds which, as a rule, come in, an impediment to useful occujjation 



PRINCIPLES OF FOREST ECONOMY. 305 

of the soil is invited, while by the sudden excessive offer of material followed by corresponding- 
decrease of supplies the market and prices are disturbed and the rational management (if existing) 
of neighboring forest areas unfavorably influenced. 

Such disturbances leading to trade depressions, while in the end they are equalized by trade 
booms, are never desirable, and especially not in an industry which requires such a long time to 
gain an equilibrium. 

To be sure, the growing of wood crops, as in agriculture may be carried on in iv small way 
with a small wood capital, or else in a large way with a large wood capital, but it will be readily 
seen that since the most useful, most necessary, and most valuable sizes of timber upon which the 
lumber industry of the country is based requires not less than a century for their production, 
this industry must finally be carried on by large capital, preferably by corporations, which have 
in them the elements of perpetuity, and eventually by the Government. 

The present consumption, for instance, of the lumber industry in the United States may be 
set at 40,000,000,000 feet B. M. annually, which corresponds to about 5,000,000,000 cubic feet of 
log timber iu the woods; the normal wood reserve, which under flrstclass management could be 
expected to furnish such amounts continuously, would figure up to at least 1,000 billion cubic feet, 
which would require 400,000,000 acres fully stocked in good condition to be constantly kept in 
wood. 

Figuring the stumpage value somewhat like the present average rates at 2 cents per cubic 
foot it appears that a capital of at least $20,000,000,000 would have to be tied up in the wood 
capital which is capable of furnishing continuously the present requirements of our lumber 
market. In this calculation we assume that our requirements for firewood and other forest prod- 
ucts, not lumber and timber, can be satisfied by the inferior material remaining over after the 
log timber has been taken out, which is not now the case. 

The experience of European nations has amply demonstrated that the small forest owner soon 
tires of the burden of maintaining the wood capital; he reduces it by shortening the rotation 
more and more, confining himself finally to the production of firewood and inferior sizes, and being- 
unable to acquire or employ the skill necessary to carry on a systematic forestry business, his 
wood lots deteriorate more and more and play no role in the supplies for the lumber market which 
are furnished by the State forests and the large landed proprietors, who can keep up well-stocked 
areas of large enough size to pay for the employment of competent managers and skilled labor 
and the maintenance of a business organization; who can leave the large wood capital intact, 
which with the long rotation is necessary to produce sizable material, and who are satisfied with 
the low but steady and safe interest which their capital produces. 
H. Doc. 181 20 



H. FOREST INFLUENCES. 

[Condensed from Bulletin 7, Forest Influences, pp. 191, 1893, with additional notes.] 



One of the arguments upon which a change of policy in regard to our forests, and especially 
on the part of the National Government, is demanded, refers to the influence which it is claimed 
forest areas exert upon climate and water flow. It is argued that the wholesale removal and 
devastation of forests affects climate and water flow unfavorably. 

Popular writers on forestry, friends of forestry reform, and the public mind have readily taken 
hold of this proposition, enlarged upon it, and generalized without sufficient and relevant premises, 
and before it was possible for science and systematic observations to furnish grounds or sound 
deductions; hence we have had only presumptions supported by superficial reasoning and occa- 
sional experiences. Even scientific writers have discussed the question without proper bases, and 
have sought to reason out the existence or absence of such an influence upon general premises 
and such evidence as the history of the world seemed to furnish, or else upon observations which 
were either of too short duration to allow elimination of other disturbing factors or else were 
otherwise unreliable. 

From the complication of causes which produce climatic conditions it has always been difficult 
to prove, when changes of these conditions in a given region were observed, that they are perma- 
nent and not due merely to the general periodic variations which have been noted in all climates 
of the earth, or that they are due to a change of forest conditions and to no other causes; hence 
some climatologists have thought proper to deny such influences entirely. On the other hand 
there are as trustworthy and careful observers who maintain the existence of such influences; 
but only of late has the question been removed from the battlefield of opinions, scientific and 
unscientific, to the field of experiment and scientific research, and from the field of mere specu- 
lation to that of exact deduction. But the crop of incontrovertible facts is still scanty, and 
further cultivation will be necessary to gather a fuller harvest and then to set clear the many 
coMplicated questions connected with this inquiry. 

Meanwhile a thorough beginning with a view to settle the question by scientific methods and 
careful systematic measurements and observations has been made in Europe, where the existence 
of well-established forest administrations, manned with trained observers, has rendered practicable 
the institution of such work on an extensive scale — the only one which can yield adequate results. 
Nevertheless, the results of these experiments, cited below, have so far failed to advance materially 
our i)ositive knowledge regarding the relation of forest growth and meteorological phenomena. 

The reason for this failure is to be sought, first, in the complexity of the problem, which ren- 
ders any experimentation difficult, and, secondly, in the deficiency in appliances and methods of 
meteorological observations. 

Not only is it difficult to analyze or control the various causes that may influence climatic 
variations from year to year, but we are not yet prepared to determine the uniformity of the local 
distribution of meteorological phenomena or of the measurements of the same by our instruments. 

Hence some of the small, though well-defined differences iu rainfall and temi^erature observed 
over forest and open country in earlier experiments maybe attributed to the nonconformity of the 
natural local distribution of these phenomena or to lack of uniformity in instruments and methods. 

It may be proper to call attention to and accentuate the fact that the question of practical 
imiiortance is not so much as to the eflects upon the general climate, but as to the local modification 
of climatic conditions which a forest area may produce. 
306 



FOREST INFLUENCES. 307 

It can not be too strongly impressed upon those who disclaim any influence of forest cover on 
climate, because the cosmic causes by which this is produced are immeasurably greater, that there 
are two classes of climate always to be considered separately, namely, the general climate and the 
local climate. The latter is of most importance to us, and alone can be modified by small causes. 
We modify it by building a house around us, thus altering the temperature aud moisture conditions 
of the atmosphere so inclosed ; but the question is, whether we can alter these conditions on a 
larger scale by such means as alternating forest areas and fields or by large bodies of forest. We 
are not so much concerned as to whether the total rainfall over the continent is increased, but 
whether the distribution of i)recipitation in time and quantity over and near a forest area is 
influenced by its existence; whether we or our crops feel its absence or presence in our immediate 
neighborhood; whether the protection it seems to afford and the changes it seems to produce in 
the meteorological phenomena are or are not real and of sufficient magnitude to iniiuence our 
forest policy. 

We can understand I'eadily that if any influence exists it must be due, in the first place, to 
the mechanical obstruction which the forest cover presents to the passage of air currents and 
to the action of the sun's rays upon the soil — it must result from a difference in insolation, and 
consequent difterences in temperature and evaporation over forest and field. It is also readily 
understood that the influence can become apjireciable only when large enough areas exhibiting 
such differences are opposed to each other, capable of producing local currents of air which may 
intercommunicate the characteristics of the one area to the other. The size and character of the 
forest growth, its density, height, situation, and composition are, therefore, much more important 
in determining its influence than has been hitherto supposed. It is not trees, but masses of foliage 
which may be effective. A large sheet covering an extended area from the influence of the sun 
would produce almost the same difierences in meterological conditions that a forest cover is 
expected to produce. 

While, then, we may admit a priori that extent or area and condition of the forest cover are 
important, we have as yet no data from which to calculate any proper size or proportion, and the 
attempts to fix a certain percentage of forest cover needed for favorable climatic conditions of a 
country are devoid of all rational basis. 

Leaving the question of forest influences upon climate as still awaiting final sohttion, we may 
speak with much more confidence of the effect which forest cover exerts upon the disposal of 
water supplies. This eflect can be much more readily studied and shows itself much more 
conspicuously. It is perhaps also much more imjjortaiit to human economy, for it is becoming 
more and more apparent that our agricultural production is dependent not so much upon the 
amount of rainfall as upon the proper disposal of the waters that fall. 

Eecognizing this truth, the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1891 
sent the following resolution to the Secretary of Agriculture : 

The American Association for the Advancement of Science respectfully submits for the consideration of the 
Secretary of Agriculture that the future of successful and more productive agriculture depends very largely upon a 
rational water management, meaning thereby not only the use of water for irrigation in the arid aud subarid 
regions, but the rational distribution and use in the humid regions of available water supplies by means of 
horizontal ditches and irrigation systems, combined with proper mechanical preparation of the soil, and with 
drainage systems, with the object of fully utilizing the water for plant production and providing for the safe and 
harmless removal of the surplus. 

The present policy of forest production and of allowing our waters to run to waste not only entails the loss of 
their beneficial influence upon plant production, but permits them to injure crops, to wash the fertile mold from the 
soil, and even to erase and carry away the soil itself. 

It is upon these considerations that the iiasociation respectfully suggests to the honorable Secretary the 
desirability of utilizing the Weather Bureau, the various agricultural experiment stations, and other forces, in 
forming a systematic service of water statistics, and in making a careful survey of the condition of water supplies, 
whicli may serve as a basis for the application of rational principles of water management. ' 

How poorly we understand the use of these supplies is evidenced yearly by destructive 
freshets aud floods, with the accompanying washing of soil, followed by droughts, low water, and 
deterioration of agricultural lands. 

It may be thought heterodox, but it is nevertheless true, that the manner in which most of the 
water of the atmosphere becomes available for human use (namely, in the form of rain ) is by no 



308 FORESTRY IN\'ESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

meaus the most satisfactory, uot only on account of its irregularity in time and quantity, but also 
on account of its detrimental mechanical action in falling; for in its fall it compacts the ground, 
impeding percolation. A large amount of what would be carried off by underground drainage is 
thus changed into surface drainage waters. At the same time, by this compacting of the soil, 
capillary action is increased and evaporation thereby accelerated. These surface waters also looseu 
rocks and soil, carrying these in their descent into the river courses and valleys, thus increasing 
dangers of high floods and destroying favorable cultural conditions. 

Hero it is that water management and, in connection with it or as a part of it, forest manage- 
ment .should be studied; for without forest management no rational water management is possible. 
The forest floor reduces or prevents the injurious mechanical action of the rain and acts as a 
regulator of water flow. Hitherto water management in rainy districts has mainly concerned 
itself with getting rid of the water as fast as possible, instead of mating it do service during its 
temporary availability by means of proper soil management, horizontal ditches and reservoirs — 
drainage and irrigation systems combined. It seems to have been entirelj^ overlooked that irriga- 
tion, which has been considered only for arid and subarid regions, is to be applied for plant 
production in well-watered regions with equal benefit and profit, if combined with proper drainage 
systems and forest management. 

The experimental demonstration of this influence of forests and water flow is also still in doubt, 
and the problem is as difficult and complex as that regarding the influence on temperature and 
rainfall. Nevertheless, sufficient experience exists to sustain the general philosophy, to which a 
close student of nature is forced, long before he can demonstrate the qualitative and quantitative 
character of an importaut influence of forests on water conditions. 

Summary of Conclusions. 

For those who wish to know only what the present state of the question of forest influences 
is, we have summarized what conclusions may be drawn from the facts presented in Bulletin 7, 
referring them to that report for the basis of these conclusions and the discussion in extenso. For 
easy reference the pages of the bulletin containing the data upon which each conclusion is reached 
are given in parentheses at the end of each paragraph, and the diagrams which show in graphic 
manner the result of the observations upon which the conclusions are mainly based are repro- 
duced. There are also added to this summary some references to later developments in this subject. 

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS. 

(1) We must keep separate two main questions, namely. What is the difference of conditions 
within and without the forest"? and How far is the difference of conditions within the forest com- 
municated to the outside, i. e., how far does the forest influence the conditions outside? (Pp. 
23-40, Bui. 7.) 

(2) The general climatic conditions in which the forest is situated as well as its situation with 
reference to elevation and exposure, furthermore its composition, whether evergreen or deciduous, 
its density, its height and extent, the character of the forest floor, and other features which 
determine its quality, must all combine in producing variety, at least quantitatively, both as to 
diflerence of conditions within and without the forest and as to possible exchange of the same, 
and hence the question of forest influences can be properly discussed only with reference to these 
other conditions. We must refrain from generalizing too readily from one set of conditions to 
another set of conditions. {Pp. 40-121, Bui. 7.) 

(3) In the matter of forest influence upon water flow, besides the above mentioned, other 
conditions, the topography and geology or stratification of soil, must also be taken into account 
and generalizations without regard to these must be avoided. (Pp. 123-157, Bui. 7.) 

(4) No influence upon the general climate which depends upon cosmic causes can in reason be 
expected from a forest cover. Only local modifications of climatic conditions may be anticipated; 
but these modifications, if they exist, are of great practical value, for upon them rest success or 
failure In agricultural pursuits and comfort or discomfort of life within the given cosmic climate. 
The same condition must be insisted upon with reference to forest influences upon water flow, 
which can exist only as local modifications of general water conditions, which are due in the first 
place to climatic, geologic, and topographic conditions. (Pp. 157-170, Bui. 7.) 



FOREST INFLUENCES. 309 

DIFFERENCE OF METEOEOLOGIOAL CONDITIONS AVITHIN AND WITHOUT THE FOREST. 

(1) Soil temperatures. — The general influence of the forest on soil temperatures is a cooling 
one, due to the shade and to the longer retention of moisture in the forest floor as well as in the 
forest air, which must be evaporated before the ground can be warmed. As a consequence, the 
extremes of high and low temperature within the forest soil occur much later than in the open, 
and both extremes are reduced, but the extreme summer temperatures much more than the winter 
temperatures. (Pp. J:0-46, Bui. 7.) 

The diflerence between evergreen and deciduous forests, which almost vanishes in the winter 
time, is in favor of the deciduous as a cooling element in summer and autumn, while during 
spring the soil is cooler under evergreens. The efi'ect increases naturally with the age and height 
of the trees. (Pp. 46-50, Bui. 7.) 

(2) Air temperatures under the crowns. — The annual range of air temperature is smaller in the 
forest than in the open; the effect upon the minimum temperature (i. e., the e&cet in winter) is 
less than on the maximum temperature (i.e., the eftect in summer.) The combined eflect is a 
cooling one. The range of temperature is more affected than the average absolute temperature, 
or, in other words, the moderating influence is greater than the cooling effect. (Pp. 51-53, Bui. 7.) 

The monthly minima for middle latitudes are uniformly reduced during the year, and the 
monthly maxima are much more reduced during the summer than during the winter. On the 
average the forest is cooler than the open country in summer, but about the same in winter, with 
a slight warming effect in spring. (Pp. 53-58, Bui. 7.) 

The difference between the mean monthly air temperatures in tbe woods and in the open 
varies with the kind of forest much more than is the case for soil temperatures. The evergreen 
forest shows a symmetrical increase and decrease throughout the year. The deciduous forest 
shows a variable influence which diminishes from the midwinter to springtime, but increases 
rapidly as the leaves appear and grow, becoming a maximum in June and July and then 
diminishing rapidly until November. The annual average effect is about the same both for 
evergreens and deciduous forests. (Pp. 58-60, Bui. 7.) 

Forests situated at a considerable elevation above the sea have sensibly the same influence 
on the reduction of the mean temperature as do forests that are at a low level. (P. 60, Bui. 7.) 

Young forests affect the air temperature very differently from mature forests; in the former 
the minimum temjieratures are always reduced, but the maxima are exaggerated. The observa- 
tions on which this conclusion is based ought, perhaps, to be considered as pertaining rather to 
the case of temperatures in the tree tops. (P. 60, Bui. 7.) 

(3) Air temperatures within the crowns. — The mean temperature of the air in the tree tops, 
after correcting for elevation above ground, is rather higher than over open fields. The effect of 
tree tops does not appreciably depend upon the height of the station above ground. The effect 
upon the minima is generally greater than on the maxima, the total effect being a warming one. 
A tree-top station is in general intermediate, as to temperature, between a station near the ground 
in the forest and one in the open field. (Pp. 61-66, Bui. 7.) 

Evergreen forests show less difference between the temperature in the crown and below, and 
altogether more uniformity in temperature changes throughout the year, than deciduous growth. 
(P. 67, Bui. 7.) 

The vertical gradient for temperature within the forest on the average of all stations and all 
kinds of forest trees is large, varying from 0.61° P. per 100 feet in April to 2.50° F. in July. 
(P. 68, Bui. 7.) 

A reversal of the vertical gradient, namely, a higher temperature above than below, occurs in 
the wood, especially in the summer time. It also occurs in the open air regularly at night, and 
may be three or four times as large as that just mentioned. In general, the action of the forest 
tends to produce a vertical distribution of temperature like that over snow or level fields on clear 
nights. (P. 69, Bui. 7.) 

(4) Air temperature above the crowns. — The temperature, at considerable heights above the 
forest, appears to be slightly affected by the forest, and more so with evergreens than with 
deciduous growth. The vertical gradients of temperature within 30 feet above the tops of the 
trees are all reversed throughout the leafy season; the gradients are also greater above the tree 
crown than below, at least during the clear sky aud caUu air. The wi^^ effects the temperature 



310 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTtRE. 

under and within the crowns, but makes little difference above them. The surface of the forest 
crown appears meteorologically much like the surface of the meadow or cornfield. It is as if the 
soil surlace has been raised to the height of the trees. (Pp. 69-72, Bui. 7.) 

(5) Air temperature in general. — From the preceding generalizations it appears that the forest 
affects the temperature just as any collection of inorganic obstacles to sunshine and wind; but as 
an organic being the forest may be also an independent source of heat. Careful observations of 
the temperature within the trunk of the tree and of the leaves of the tree show that the tree 
temperature is affected somewhat by the fact that the water rising brings up the temperature of 
the roots, while the food material from the leaves brings their temperature down, and the tree 
temperature, considered as the result of tiie complex adjustment, is not appreciably affected by 
any heat that may be evolved by the chemical processes on which its growth depends. It is not 
yet clear as to whether the chemical changes that take place at the surface of the leaves should 
give out any heat; it is more likely that heat is absorbed, namely, rendered latent, especially in 
the formation of the seed ; the process of germination usually evolves this latent heat; the immense 
quantity of water transpired and evaporated by the forests tends to keep the leaves at the same 
temperature as that of the surface of water or moist soil. (Pp. 73-95, Bui. 7.) 

(C)' Humidity of air. — The annual evaporation within the forests is about one-half of that in 
the open field; not only is the evaporation within a forest greatest in May and June, but the 
difference between this and the evaporation in the open field is also then a maximum, which is the 
saving due to the presence of the woods. The average annual evaporation within the woods is 
about 44 per cent of that in the field. Fully half of the field evaporation is saved by the presence 
of the forest. (P. 90, Bui. 7.) 

The quantity of moisture thrown into the air by transpiration from the leaves in the forest is 
sometimes three times that from a horizontal water surface of the same extent, and at other times 
it is less than that of the water. The transpiration from leaves in full sunshine is decidedly 
greater than from leaves in the diffused daylight or darkness. The absolute amount of annual 
transpiration, as observed in forests of mature oaks and beeches in central Europe, is about one- 
quarter of the total annual precipitation. (Pp. 77-80, Bui. 7.) 

The percentage of rainfall, evaporated at the surface of the ground, is about 40 per cent for 
the whole year in the open field and about 12 per cent for the forest, and is greater under 
deciduous than under evergreen forests. (P. 98, Bui. 7.) 

The evaporation from a saturated bare soil in the forest is about the same as that from a water 
surface in the forest, other conditions being the same. (P. 99, Bui. 7.) 

The i^resence of forest litter like that lying naturally in undisturbed forests hinders the 
evaporation from the soil to a remarkable extent, since it saves seven-eighths of what would 
otherwise be lost. (P. 100, Bui. 7.) 

The total quantity of moisture returned into the atmosphere from a forest by transpiration 
and evaporation from the trees and the soil is about 75 per cent of the precipitation. For other 
forms of vegetation it is about the same or sometimes larger, varying between 70 per cent and 90 
per cent; in this respect the forest is surpassed by the cereals and grasses, while, on the other 
hand, the evaporation from a bare soil is scarcely 30 per cent of the precipitation. (P. 101, Bui. 7.) 

The absolute humidity within a forest exceeds that of the glades and the plains by a small 
quantity. The relative humidity in the forest is also larger than in the glades or plains by 2 per 
cent to 4 per cent. Forests of evergreens have from two to four times the influence in increasing 
relative humidity than do forests of deciduous trees. (Pp. 102-105, Bui. 7.) 

The gauges in European forest stations catch from 75 to 85 per cent when placed under the 
trees, the balance representing that which passes through the foliage and drips to the ground or 
runs down along the trunks of trees, or else is intercepted and evaporated. The percentage 
withheld by the trees, and which either evaporates from their surface or trickles along the trunk 
to the ground, is somewhat greater in the leafy season, though the difference is not great. 
Deciduous and evergreen trees show but slight differences in this respect. More rain is usually 
caught by gauges at a given height above the forest crown than at the same height in open fields, 
but it still remains doubtful whether the rainfall itself is really larger over the forests, since the 
recordetl catch of the rain gauge still requires a correction for the influence of the force of the 
wind at the gauge. (Pp. 106-110, Bui. 7). 

In such cases, where over a large area deforestation and reforestation have seemingly gone 



FOREST INFLUENCES. 311 

hand in Land with decrease and increase of rainfall, the possible secular change in rainfall must 
also be considered. Yet the experience of increased rainfall over the station at Liutzel, with 
increase of forest area, points strongly toward a possible interdependence under given conditions. 
(Pp. 111-118, Bui. 7.) 

By condensing dew, hoar frost, and ice on their branches, trees add thereby a little to the 
precipitation which reaches the ground, and by preventing the rapid melting of snow more water 
remains available under forest cover. (P. 121, Bui. 7.) 

The question as to the march of destructive hailstorms with reference to forest areas, which 
seems settled for some regions in Prance, remains in doubt for other, especially mountain, regions. 
(Pp. 131-129, Bui. 7.) 

From these statements we would exjjcct as a consequence of deforestation an effect on the 
climate of the deforested area in three directions, namely: (a) extremes of temperature of air as 
well as soil are aggravated; (b) the average humidity of the air is lessened; and iiossibly (c) the 
distribution of precipitation throughout the year, if not its quantity, is changed. 

INFLUENCE OF FOKESTS UPON THE CLIMATE OF THE SURROUNDING COUNTRY. 

(1) An influence of the forest upon the climate of its surroundings can only take place by 
means of diffusion of the vapor which is transpired and evaporated by the crowns and by 7neans 
of air currents passing through and above the forests being modified in temperature and moisture 
conditions; the mechanical effect upon such air currents by which they are retarded in their 
progress may also be effective in changing their climatic value. 

(2) Local air currents are set up by the difference in temperature of the air within and without 
the forest, analogously to those of a lake or pond, cooler currents coming from the forest during 
the day in the lower strata and warmer currents during the night in the upper strata. The latter 
currents, being warmer and moister, can be of influence on the temperature and moisture con- 
ditions of a neighboring field by moderating temperature extremes and increasing the humidity 
of the air. 

This local circulation is the one most important difference between forest and other vegetation. 
How far away from the forest this circulation becomes sensible is not ascertained. In winter time, 
when the temperature ditterences become small, no such circulation is noticeable. (P. 120, Bui. 7.) 

(3) The general air currents in their lower portions are cut off entirely by the forest, which 
acts as a wind break. This influence can of course be experienced only on the leeward side. How 
far this protection reaches it is difficult to estimate, but it certainly reaches farther than that of a 
mere wind break, since by the friction of the air moving over the crowns a retardation must be 
experienced that would be noticeable for a considerable distance beyond the mere wind-break 
effect. Deforestation on a large scale would permit uninterrupted sweep of the winds, a change 
more detrimental where the configuration of the ground does not fulfill a similar function — in 
large plains more than in hilly and mountainous regions, and at the seashore more than in the 
interior. (Pp. 118-120, 133, Bui. 7.) 

The upper air strata can be modified only by the conditions existing near and above the 
crowns. At the same time they must carry away the cooler and moister air there and create an 
upward movement of the forest air, and thereby in part the conditions of this become also active 
in modifying air currents. The greater humidity immediately above the crowns is imparted to the 
air currents, if warm and dry, and becomes visible at night in the form of mists resting above and 
near forest areas. These strata protect the open at least against insolation and loss of water by 
evaporation, and have also a greater tendency to condensation as dew or light rain if conditions 
for sucli condensation exist. This influence can be felt only to the leeward in summer time, and 
with dry, warm winds, while the cooling ■winter effect upon comparatively warmer moist winds is 
not noticeable. Theoretical considerations lead to the conclusion that in mountain regions only 
the forest on the leeward slope can possibly add moisture to a wind coming over the mountain, 
but this does not necessarily increase the precipitation on the field beyond. Altogether, the 
theoretical considerations are as yet neither proved nor disproved by actual observations, and as 
to rainfall the question of influence on the neighborhood is still less settled than that of precipita- 
tion ujion forest areas themselves. Wherever moisture-laden winds pass over extensive forest 
iireas the cpoler and njoister pojiditipa of the at'mo8pl|.§r§ niay at least not y^fivjce the possibility: 



312 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

of coudensatiou, which a heated plain would do; but observatious so far give no conclusive 
evidence that neighboring fields receive more rain than they otherwise would. (Pp. 76, 83, 89, 
103, Bui. 7.) 

(4) With regard to comparative temperatures in forest stations and open stations that are 
situated not far apart from each other, it would appear that the forest exerts a cooling influence, 
but that more detailed conclusions are hindered by the consideration that the ordinary meteoro- 
logical station itself is somewhat affected by neighboring trees. 

The study of the stations in Asiatic and European Russia seems to show that in the western 
part of the Old World the presence of large forests has a very sensible influence on the teini)era- 
ture. Similar studies for stations in the United States seem to show that our thin forests have a 
slight effect in December, but a more decided one in June. It appears also that our wooded 
regions are warmer than the open plains, but there is no positive evidence that this difference of 
temperature Is dependent upon the quantity or distribution of forests or that changes in tempera- 
ture have occurred from this cause. (Pp. 94, 05, Bnl. 7.) 

(o) When a forest incloses a small area of land, forming a glade, its inclosed position brings 
about special phenomena of reflection of heat, local winds, and a large amount of shade. For 
such situations it is found that the mean range of temperature is larger iu the glade than iu the 
open; the glade climate is more rigorous than the climate of open plains; the glade is cooler and 
its diurnal range larger during the spring, summer, and autumn. (Pp. 84-88, Bui. 7.) 

Favorable influences upon moisture conditions of the air are most noticeable in localities where 
much water is stored iu underground with overlying strata which are apt to dry when our summer 
drought prevails. Here the forest growth is able to draw water from greater depths and by 
transpiration return it to the atmosphere, thereby reducing the dryness and possibly inducing 
precipitation. In most climates this action would be less effective or of no use. Hence in regions 
with oceanic climate, with moist sea winds, like England and the west coasts of Buroije or of the 
northern United States, deforestation from a climatic point of view may make no appreciable 
difference, such as it would make in continental climates like the interior of our country, the Eocky 
Mountains, and southern California. 

Whether large or small areas of forest and open fields alternating or what jjercentage of forest 
is most favorable can not as yet be discussed, since we are not clearly informed even as to the 
manner and the amount of influence which forest cover exercises. In general, we may expect 
that an alternation of large forested and unforested areas in regions which on account of their 
geographic situation have a diy and rigorous climate is more beneficial than large uninterrupted 
forest areas, which would fail to set up that local circulation which is brought about by differences 
in temperature and permits an exchange of the forest climate to the neighboring field. 

More recent experiments tend to modify somewhat the conclusions arrived at heretofore, and 
indicate, as has been suggested, that the differences in temperature and humidity of woods and of 
open land that have been recorded are largely to be attributed to variability of instruments and 
of readings, and to nonconformity of conditions. 

Even the well-planned Austrian experiments have produced neither striking nor consistent 
results. In 1893, Dr. Lorentz Liburnau concluded that forests did not cool the air of the 
surrounding country, and that temperature extremes Avere even heightened in the immediate 
vicinity of the woods. Concerning humidity, it was found that while with one set of stations this 
appeared increased "by an uncertain trifle through the proximity of the forest, in another set no 
influence was observed, and in one case the air current from the woods was positively drier at 
noon time than that of the open country, and even though Lorentz Liburnau is still hopeful in 
the matter he felt compelled to admit that a "distance effect" of forest influence was so far not 
demonstrated. 

Schubert, in 1895 and again in 1897, published results of extensive temperature measurements 
which point to an entire absence of influence in this respect, the air of the forest being in no case 
sufficiently cooler to warrant a decision. His experiments gave a difference of only 5° F. in favor 
of the pine woods. This author came to practically the same conclusion regarding the humidity 
of the forest and the open country. 

Miittrich, in 189(5, comparing different modes of placing the thermometers found that these 
thermometers side by side varied by as much as 1.2° F. 

In a recent investigation of the methods employed in investigations of this character Hoppe 



FOKEST INFLUENCES. 313 

arrived at the following results: A number of the most approved instruments placed side by side 
and read at the same time of day gave readings differing by as high as 1.0° F., and usually by as 
much as 0.7'^ F., thus indicating clearly that such differences of temperature as had hitherto been 
considered real or valid differences were possibly uothiug more than inaccuracies or insufficiencies 
of observation or due to nonuniformity of conditions. Nevertheless, having thus ascertained the 
difficulties and errors of instruments, Hoppe proceeded to investigate the influence of soil covers 
and found that even over the sod of a poor meadow the temperature is lower and the humidity 
greater than over a jiiece of rocky bare land, temperature and humidity being measured by the 
same instruments in both cases. He linds that this is still more constant and pronounced when 
forest and bare land are compared. The differences were small, however, the average of his results 
for sixty-six days being a difference in temperature of 3.2° P., and in relative humidity of 7 per 
cent. His results would seem to indicate a great uniformity of difference, and that the differences 
in temperature and humidity are nearly as great at night as during the day. A point of great 
interest is also brought oat prominently by these experiments, namely, the ueed of a large 
number of observations. Thus, Hoppe found that the same instrument (an Assmanu aspiration 
psychrometer) varied from minute to minute often with the slightest changes in cloudiness, so 
that during noonday and iu one minute the relative humidity fell from 47.4 jjer cent to 41.2 per 
cent, and the temperature rose from 73.5 to 75° F., and within five minutes the humidity rose from 
43.8 to 50.9, fell to 48.8 and rose again to 52.2. 

WIND-BREAK EFFECTS. 

Prof. F. W. King, of the University of Wisconsin, has made an investigation into the protec- 
tion afitbrded by wind breaks, and records his observations in Bulletin 42 of that institution. The 
following extracts show the general character of his observations: 

Lying to the eastwaril of a field of clover, seeded last year, is a piece of oata,seeded to clover, and here the 
catch is very much better close to the grass, and is evidently so as far out in the field as 2 rods. 

A north-aud-south road, fenced with wire and 2 rods wide, has scattering trees from 10 to 18 feet high, together 
with a scanty growth of hazel on both sides. To the east of this is a field of oats badly damaged by the winds at a 
distance from the shelter, but a strip 2 rods wide adjoining that seems wholly to have escaped injury. 

A level field seeded to clover and timothy last year is bounded on the north by a road and a strip of woods. 
Here the clover has a much thicker stand and ranker growth in a belt alongside than it has to the southward. 

Coming next to a field of oats some 60 rods from east to west and 30 rods north to .south, lying east of a piece of 
woods, we find its whole eastern two-thirds so completely ruined that it is scarcely more than a naked field, while 
the western third is fresh and green. 

Another piece of oats seeded to clover, and lying on the south side of a wooded pasture, has a length of 80 rods 
from east to west, but a width of only 15 rods. This field is fresh and green throughout its whole extent and has a 
good catch of clover, but the patch is best and thickest in the strip 3 rods wide along the wooded pasture. 

Influence of woods on the rate of eraporaiion to the leeward. — To study the rate evaporation at different distances 
from groves, six evaporimeters were used made after the plan of the Piche evaporinieter, but with the evaporating 
surface much larger, while the graduated tubes were the same size, the object being to make the instruments 
more sensitive. 

Sheets of chemical filter paper were used as the evaporating surfaces, all from the same packages and having 
a diameter of 5.9 inches; this gives an area, after deducting that covered by the graduated tube, of 27.06 square 
inches. 

The first experiment was made to the northwest of Plainfield on a jiiece of ground planted to corn, lying to the 
south of a grove of black oaks having a mean height not far from 12 to 15 feet. At the time there was a gentle 
breeze from a little west of north. The instruments were all suspended at a height of 1 foot above the surface of 
the ground and unsheltered iu any way from the wind or sun, and iu the first trial they were placed at intervals 
of 20 feet along a line at right angles to the south margin of the woods. The amount of evaporation at the six 
stations between 11.30 a. m. and 12.30 p. m., is given iu the following tables: 

Culiic 
centimeters. 

At Station A, 20 feet from woods, . the evaporation was 11. 5 

At Station B, 40 feet from woods, the evapor.ation was 11. 6 

At Station C, 60 feet from woods, the evaporation was 11.9 

Sum...: 35.0 

At Station D, 280 feet from woods, the evaporation was 15. 5 

At Station E, 300 feet from woods, the evaporation was 14. 2 

At Station F, 320 feet from woods, the evaporation was 14.7 

Sum..... ,......, ,,,.,,„,..,,.,,, - i^,i 



314 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

These are the amounts of evaporation in one hour, aud they show that the difteronce between 20 to 60 feet from 
the -woods and that between 280 to 320 feet was 43.4 — 35.0=8.4 c. c., and this is 24 per cent greater evaporation 
at the three outer stations than at the three inner ones. 

On May 31 another trial was made in the town of Almond, to the south of an oak grove 80 rods square, in a 

Held sowed to oats and wheat mixed. Here the first instrument was placed 20 feet from the margin of the grove, 

the second 100 feet distant, the third 200 feet, etc. The first two instruments stood upon ground seeded last year 

to clover and timothy, but only timothy was growing where the second instrument stood. The grain upon the field 

had a fair stand where the observations were made, and was about 4 inches high. Tliere was at the time a fair wind 

from nearly due north aud the day was clear. As in the former trials the evaporometers were suspended at a height 

of 1 foot above the ground and were unsheltered in any way. The following table expresses the results obtained : 

Cubic 
ceutiuieters. 

At Station A, 20 feet from woods, the evaporation was 11. 1 

At Station B, 100 feet from woods, the evaporation was - 14. 3 

At Station C, 200 feet from woods, the evaporation was 15. 7 

At Station D, 300 feet from woods, the evaporation was 18. 5 

At Station E, 400 feet from woods, the evaporation was 18. 5 

At Station F, 500 feet from woods, the evaporation was 18. 3 

From this table it will be seen there is an increasing amount of evaporation nntil 300 feet from the woods is 
reached, aud that beyond and including this the rate is practically the same, but at 300 feet the evaporation is 17.7 
per cent greater than at 200 feet aud 66.6 per cent greater than at 20 feet from the woods. 

Influence of a hedgerow on the rate of era2)oration to the leeward. — On May 30 three of the iustruments were 
set up to the south of a very scanty hedgerow, consisting of a strip of blue grass 16 feet wide in which there are 
scattering black and burr oaks from 6 to 8 feet in height, with a few attaining a height of 12 feet. This hedge has 
very many open gaps in it, and the first instrument is set up behind a clump of six trees, spanning a length of 40 
feet, there being a gap of nearly the same width on both sides of it. To the north of this, in the direction from 
which the wind was blowing, there is a broad naked field being planted to potatoes, which has a width of about 80 
rods, while the instruments hung over a field of oats in which the grain was about 4 inches high. After the instru- 
ments were set up it became cloudy and sprinkled a very little at times, the wind being from a little east of north, 
rather strong aud chilly. Herg again the instruments hung one foot above the surface, and the results obtained are 

given below : 

° Cubic 

centimeters. 

At Station A, 20 feet from hedge, the evaporation was 10.3 

At Station B, 150 feet from hedge, the evaporation was 12. 5 

At Statiou C, 300 feet from hedge, the evaporation was 13. 4 

Here it will be seen the evaporation at 300 feet from the hedgerow was 3.1 c. c, or 30.1 per cent greater than at 

20 feet distant, and at 150 feet the diflerence was 0.9 c. c, or 7.2 per cent less than 300 feet. It is evident, therefore, 

that even such a hedgerow does exert an influence upon the rate of evaporation which is readily measured. 

INFLUENCE OF FORESTS UPON WATER AND SOIL CONDITIONS. 

(1) In consequeuce of deforestation, evaporation from tbe soil is augmented aud accelerated, 
resulting in unfavorable conditions of soil humidity and affecting unfavorably the size and con- 
tinuity of springs. The influence of forest cover upon the flow of springs is due to this reduced 
evaporation as well as to the fact that by the protecting forest cover the soil is kept granular and 
allows more water to penetrate and percolate than would otherwise. In this connection, however, it 
is the condition of the forest floor that is of greatest importance. Where the litter and humus mold 
is burned up, as in many if not most of our mountain forests, this favorable influence is largely 
destroyed, although the trees are still standing. (Pp. 130-137, Bui. 7.) 

(2) Snow is held longer in the forest and its melting is retarded, giving longer time for filtra- 
tion into the ground, which also being frozen to less depth is more apt to be open for subter- 
ranean drainage. Altogether forest conditions favor in general larger subterranean and less 
surface drainage, yet the moss or litter of the forest floor retains a large part of the precipitation 
aud prevents its filtration to the soil, and thus may diminish the supply to springs. This is 
especially possible with small precipitations. Of copious rains and large amounts of snow water, 
quantities, greater or less, penetrate the soil, and according to its nature into lower strata and to 
springs. This drainage is facilitated not only by the numerous channels furnished by dead and 
living roots, but also by the influence of the forest cover in preserving the loose and porous structure 
of the soil. 

Although the quantity of water offered for drainage on naked soil is larger, and although a 
large quantity is utilized by the trees in the process of growth, yet the influence of the soil coyep 
in retarding evapor9,tion is li^We to Qffset this loss, sis the soil coyer is nop itself dried gut, 



FOREST INFLUENCES. 315 

The forest, theu, even if under unfavorable topographical aud soil couditious (steep slopes aud 
impermeable soils) it may not permit larger quantities of water to drain off underground aud in 
springs, cau yet influence their constancy and equable flow by preventing loss from evaporation. 
(Pp. 137-140, Bui. 7.) 

(3) The surface drainage is retarded by the uneven forest floor more than by any other kind 
of soil cover. Small precipitations are apt to be pi'evented from running off superficially through 
absorption by the forest floor. In case of heavy rainfalls this mechanical retardation in connection 
with greater subterranean drainage may reduce the danger from freshets by iireventing the rapid 
collection into runs. Yet iu regions with steep declivities aud impermeable soil such rains may 
be shed superficially and produce freshets in spite of the forest floor, and an effect upon water 
conditions can exist only from the following consideration. (Pp. 140-159, Bui. 7.) 

(4) The well-kept forest floor, better than even the close sod of a meadow, prevents erosion 
and abrasion of the soil and the washing of soil aud detritus iuto brooks and rivers. 

This erosion is especially detrimental to agricultural interests as well as water flow in regions 
with this surface and impenetrable subsoils, and where rains are apt to be explosive in their 
occurrence, as in our western aud southern country. The best soil of the farms is often washed 
into the rivers, aud the water stages of the latter by the accumulations of this soil are influenced 
unfavorably. (Pp. 159-162, Bui. 7.) 

(5) Water stages in rivers and streams which move outside the mountain valleys are dependent 
upon such a complication of climatic, topographic, geological, and geographical conditions at the 
head waters of their affluents that they withdraw themselves from a direct correlation to surface 
conditions alone. Yet it stands to reason that the conditions at the head waters of each affluent 
must ultimately be reflected in the flow of the main river. The temporary retention of large 
amounts of water and eventual change iuto subterranean drainage which the well-kept forest 
floor iiroduces, the consequent lengthening in the time of flow, aud especially the prevention of 
accumulation aud carrying of soil and detritus which are deposited in -the river and change its 
bed, would at least tend to alleviate the dangers from abnormal floods and reduce the number and 
height of regular floods. (Pp. 162-170, Bui. 7.) 

Note. — Concerning the moisture of the soil the results of the most recent experiments differ. Eamann, in 1895, 
published a series of results which indicated that the soil of the forest may be even drier than that of the neighbor- 
ing open land. This view he finds strengthened by experiments made in small cleavings within the forest, where 
he finds the soil of the sunny side of the clearing and that of the old forest itself decidedly drier than the soil of the 
shaded part of the clearing, though he also finds the soil under a young bush cover more moist than that under old 
timber. 

Whether a forest cover aids iu the accumulation of ground water by improving the permeability of the soil 
was made the object of an experiment by Wollny in a series of inconclusive small pot experiments which led this 
investigator to the questionable result that bare land was more conductive to percolation than ground covered 
either by grass or trees. This would surely be true only if the bare ground, as in the experiments, is kept iu an 
artificial, not natural condition. 

Attempts to deduce the influence of forest on water flow from wholesale measurements and observations have 
been made in this country by Vermeule, of New Jersey (see Proceedings American Forestry Association, Vol. XI, pj, 
130-137, and report of N. J. Geological Survey, 1894), and Rafter, of New Yorlc (Proceedings of American Forestry 
Association, Vol. 12, pp. 139-165, and report of State engineer and surveyor of New York, 1896), the former claiming 
that no appreciable influence existed, the latter calculating the influence of the forest to be equal in value to 5 or 6 
inches of rainfall, this amount of moisture being saved by its presence. 

Among recent papers which possess the highest value iu describing the movements of water in the ground, 
and thus throw light on a most important phase of the whole subject, Bulletin 32 of the Experiment Station, Fort 
Collins, Colo., by Prof. L. G. Carpenter, is noteworthy. Professor Carpenter shows that it is possible by mechanical 
means (ditches in this case) to prevent the rapid run ofl: iu high-water time and thus produce a steadier flow of a 
stream and also raise the level of the ground water, as well as saturate large areas of otherwise arid land. In other 
words, he shows that in Colorado the work of irrigation has resulted in a rise in the Irvel of the ground water, 
changing deep wells into shallow ones; that it has taken water out of the Platte and Cache la Poudre rivers and 
saturated thousands of acres of formerly arid land, the seepage of which has changed dry branches into steady 
rivulets aud supplies already a steady inflow into the rivers, from which the water is taken above the fields. This 
inflow tends to make these rivers steady and uniform sources of water supply and makes irrigation possible at points 
below where in former times such irrigation would have been out of the question, 



316 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



SANITARY INFLtTENCE. 

(1) The claimed influence of greater purity of the air clue to greater oxygen and ozone pro- 
duction does not seem to be significant. (P. 171, Bui. 7.) 

(2) The protection against sun and wind and consequent absence of extreme conditions may 
be considered favorable. (P. 171, Bui. 7.) 

(3) The soil conditions of the forest are unfavorable to the production and existence of patho- 
genic microbes, especially those of the cholera and yellow fever, and the comparative absence of 
wind and dust, in whicli sncli microbes are carried into the air, may be considered as the principal 
claim for the hygienic significance of the forest. (P. 17ii, Bui. 7.) 

We may summarize that the x>osition of the forest as a climatic factor is still uncertain, at 
least as to its practical and quantitative importance, but that its relation to water and soil condi- 
tions is well established. As a climatic factor, it would appear that the forest of the plain is of 
more importance than that of the mountains, where the more ijotent influence of elevation 
obscures and reduces in significance the influence of their cover; as a regulator of water condi- 
tions, the forest of the mountains is the important factor; and since this influence makes itself- 
felt far distant from the location of the forest, the claim for attention of Government activity and 
for statesmanlike policy with reference to this fiictor of national welliire may be considered as well 
founded. Every civilized government must in time own or control the forest cover of the moun- 
tains in order to secure desirable water conditions. 

In conclusion, I may urge that systematic observations bearing on the subject of forest influ- 
ences should be instituted in this country by a Government agency, perhaps under the authority 
of the Weather Bureau and with the cooperation of the agricultural experiment stations. No 
other country is so well adapted for the study of this question as the United States, offering all 
the varying climatic conditions of a whole continent under one government, with changes in 
forest conditions constantly progressing. 

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATIONS. 

The following diagrams, reproduced from Bulletin 7, represent more in detail, yet in a succinct 
manner, the results of the long-extended series of observations by the Prussian forest-meteoro- 
logical stations. These stations were double stations; i. e., one set of instruments was placed in 
the forest and a corresponding set at some distance from the forest in open fields. The stations 
represent varying conditions in geographical and topographical location and in character of forest 
growth. At Lintzel there was only one station, originally in an extensive open heath, which was 
gradually planted to forest, allowing an observation of changes due to these changed conditions. 

The conditions at the various stations were as follows : 



German stations for forest meteorology. 



Station. 


Latitude. 


liOngi- 
tade east 
of Perro. 


Eleva- 
tion. 


Kind of treea and 

age at founding 

of station. 


Distance to margin 
of forest. 


Beginning 
of obser- 
vations. 


Forest 
station. 


Field 
station. 




54 50 
53 3i 
50 28 
52 50 

50 36 

51 52 

51 45 

52 16 

52 59 

53 16 
53 36 
50 53 
50 27 
48 29 
48 50 
48 59 
48 25 


38 13 

39 9 
34 
31 29 
28 28 
28 14 
28 10 
28 38 
27 55 
27 9 
25 14 

25 54 

24 3 

26 59 

25 28 
24 57 
24 57 


Feet. 

128 

423 

2,484 

79 

2,349 

1,296 

2, 549 

420 

325 

125 

10 

1,998 

2,024 

2,493 

499 

1,158 

3,064 


45.year spruce 

80-140-year pines . - . 

45-year spruce 

45-year pines 

60-70-year spruce . . . 
65-85-year beeches - - 

45-year spruce 

60-year beeches 


Feet. 
262 
679 
591 
410 
984 
367 
328 
984 


Feet. 
459 
433 
869 
591 
492 
1, 138 
650 
656 


1873, x,i. 

1873, xii, i. 

1874, xi, i. 
1375, xii, i. 
1881, x,i. 
1874, X, i. 

1877, vi, i. 

1878, V, i. 
1831, iii, i. 
1375, X, i. 

1876, X, i. 

1877, vi, 1. 

1874, x,i. 

1875, v,i. 

1876, v, i. 
1875, V, i. 






Eberswalde 

SchmiedefeUl 

Friedrichsrode 

Sonnenberg 

Marientbal 


Hadersleben 


70-80-year beeches.. 

20year pines 

70-year beeches 

45-year spruces 

50-year spruces 

55-65-year pines 

45-year beeches 

60-80-year beeches . . 


410 

656 
2,461- 

361 
1,640 
4,167 

320 
3,937 


394 

1,640 

640 

328 

656 

2,192 

820 

5,249 

















FOREST INFLUENCES. 317 

The couipilatiou of tlie records at these stations iuto the ingenious graphic form here presented 
was made by Mr. Mark W. Harrington, formerly Chief of the United States Weather Bureau ; 
they explain themselves without the need of additional text to any one who will learn to read 
them with the aid of the following explanation and show at a glance the difl'erence of meteoro- 
logical conditions prevailing in the forest and in the open. 

NOTE ON THE CONSTRUCTION AND READING OF THE DIAGRAMS. 

The horizoDtal lines forcUnates) above or below the zero line represent values or amounts, degrees of tempera- 
ture, inches of precipitation or evaporation, percentages, etc. The vertical lines (abscissii;) represent time, dividing 
the field into twelve seasonal divisions corresponding to the twelve months of the year, the outer lines both stand- 
ing for the month of December or commencement of winter. The curve lines are constructed by noting on each 
monthly line the values found for the month, and then connecting these points by either straight or rounded-oif 
lines. 

Unless otherwise noted, the values so plotted are the differences between the readings under two sots of condi- 
tions, namely, in most cases the values which were found for the stations in the woods (W) diminished by the values 
found for the stations in the open field (O), or If — O. 

The value of this ditference is positive, if the curve runs above the zero line — that is to say, the records for the 
■woods ())') showed higher values than for the open field (0); it is negative, i. e., the record for the woods was 
lower, if the curve line runs below the zero line. The greater, therefore, the vertical distance of any point in the 
curve from zero line, the greater is the influence of thS woods. In temperature readings, for instance, the curve 
above the zero line would denote that the woods were warmer; below the zero line, that the woods were cooler than 
the open field by as many degrees as the curve runs above or below the zero line, the latter representing that state 
of conditions when W=0. i. e., when there is no ditference in the readings for the two sets of conditions. 

Where values for each set of conditions are plotted separately, the area included within the two curve lines 
(hatched) exhibits the difl'erence between the woods and open field. 

To exhibit more readily the amount of influence of the forest, the areas included by the zero line and the curve 
for mean values is also hatched in most cases. 



318 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 



Soil temperatures. 



Average, 



Hadersleben, - 
Lintzel, 

Hollerath, - - 
Schoo, - - - 
Lahnhuf, - - 
Marienthal, - 
Fritzen, - - 
Friedrichsrode, 
St. Johann, - 
Kurwien, - - 
Carhherg, - - 
Eherswalde, - 
Sehmiedefeld, 
Hagenaii, - - 
Sonnenberg, - 
Neumath, - - 
Melkerei,'-^-' 



Scale of degrees. 

At surface. — — - 

Pm. 42.— Differences of m 



Scale of degrees. L 

— - ,-ii six indies : 











































'.".... 










-~- 


































"-■_>_ 


-■ 


































































































- 























— 










































- 






























































































































b °r- °ai °ro ■^ 
1 1 1 1 
1 1 1 1 1 



L Muiiual t,emi)Bi:it.ure3 of soil ( W—O). 



FOREST INFLUENCES. 
Soil temperatures — Continued. 



319 



SCHOO. 


^ 


























HADERSLEBEN. 




■ 




\ 
















' _ 


HOLLERATH _.. 








^ 


\"v 










^ 






CARLSBERG. 


,,., 









■^ 




^ 


"^ 


"■^ 


y 






NEUMATH, 




-^^ 


- 






s_ 






y 


y'^ 


,.--' 


'' 




^^' 


--- 


•.^" 


\ 








— -' 




/ 




_^ 


EBERSWALDE 






"^ 


"^\-, 


k 










' 


/:-M 


1 AHNHOF. 




. 


^ 


'- 


,\"- 


\ 








y^. 


^y 




MELKEREI. 


"^ 






■\ 


\ \ 


^. 




. 


_--< 


fy/ 




^ 


KURWIEN. 




F'^ 


t:^ 


"-. 






^^^ 


,-'- 


^' 


/ 


/y\ 




FRIEDRICHSRODE.^ — 


=^ 


^^ 




X 


'^^ 










/ 


/,/ 


A 








'^ — 


\ '' 








,. 




// 


/' 


/ 


FRITZEN.. 








\ 
\ 


~--\ 




\ 


■■' 


/ 




// 




SCALE 

OF 

DEGREES 

OF 

FAHRENHEIT. 


0° 










\ \ 


N, 


\^ 




y 




/ 




1° 












\ 




--^^ 


y^ 


^7 






?° 










\ 


\ 




y' 


/ 


1 

1 






3° 














\- 


./ 


1 
1 






A-" 




















1 
1 






S° 












\ 

\ 






/ 


1 
































7° 














\ 












fi° 














> 














WINTER. 


SPRING. 


SUMMER. 


AUTUMN. 1 



Flo. 43 Difference of temperature ( TF— O) at the depth of 4 feet. (The line running nnder the name 

of a atation is its zero lijie. The curve for the stiition is represented hy the nearest broken, unbroken, 
or dotted line like that in the margin.) 



1- 

o 

1- 
< 


+ 1° 


























e 


























J^ 


'-' 




■~- J 


^~~--, 
















^^' 


-21 








'^. 














^/■■' 




-3° 








, 





L-'^-'. 


\ 


— 








j^/ 




— 


-4" 












^^.^N 








y 






+ 1° 














■i.^_ 















-r.- 


:-rr 


"-"■^--i 


















:------ 


r 
o 

z 

X 
CO 

< 


- r 








%> 














// 




-2° 








V ' 


^ 
















-3° 


















/ 








-4° 


















^y 








-s° 












.^-,. 




.<-^ 










+ 1° 












^**~. 


~-r- 


'■■' 













—;.- 


=--= 


.^ 


















'l'- 


1 

■c 

1- 
< 


- 1° 






~X 
















/ y 




-2° 








V\ 


















-3° 








v" 


















-4° 










'•■ 








4 








-5° 










\\ 








/y 








-6° 










\* 






/ 


' 








-7° 












v_ 














-8° 












■■ 


.---' 
















WINTER 


SPRING. 


SUMMER. 


AUTUMN 1 


























■1 



Fig. 44. — Differences of soil temperature (-woods and open fields). Conipai 
deciduous and evergreen trees (TT— O). 



320 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
Soil lemperaLiires — Contiuued . 



+ 1 


























n 


T-t-- 


!^t::?s 


■^-'^^, 
















jf^ 


f^. 


- r 






\ 


>-, 












/ 


•V 


/ 


-z" 








\\ 


^\ 










// 


' /-' 




-3° 








\ 


\ N 








/-// 






-4° 










\\ 


'\ 






/ / 


/ 






-fi° 










\^ 




^^ 




/"' 








-e° 










\ 




J 


^\7 










-7° 












\ 




/ 










-r 




























WINTER. 


SPF5ING, 


SUMMER. 


AUTUMN. 1 



Fig. 45.— Difference of soil temperature (TF—0), all stations — Grerman observations. 



\ 

a. 
o 

H 
< 


+ 1° 






















I 


n 


^ — 







^ 
















^'- 


- 1° 


_. 





— - 


^\ 














/ 


_. 


-?" 








"n. 












/ 


/ 


y ■ 


-,v 










\ N 
















-4° 












■\ 






/ 


,.'' 






- 1" 


^ 










^ 


~c-i_ 


^--- 


„.'' 


r 














r-^ 
















^^ 




X 

o 

z 

X 

1- 

< 


- 1° 




















y 


,-- 


-" 


- ?° 




















/ 






- 3° 










\X 








/ 








-4° 










^,'' 








/y 








- vS" 












\ 




/y 










+ 1° 


.__ 












:_U' 


^ 















,_ ~^ 


^^ 
















/'' 




< 

EC 

1- 

< 


- 1° 






v^\ 














/ 


^ 


-'" 


-2° 




















/ 


.''' 




- 3° 








\N 












/ y 






-4° 








* 


W 








»/,-' 








-5° 










'sN 








/ 








-6° 










'-\ 


v^ 




.-/ 










-T 












\ ~- 


-..,' 


/ 










^8° 














— " 
















WINTER 


SPRING. 


SUMMER. 


AUTUMN. 1 


-- 


240C 


EEET. 240 FEET | 

























Fig. 46. — Differences of soil temperature (woods and open fields). Comparison of e 
vations .above sea level (IT — O). 



+ 1 































■-. 


-=rr: 







^^ 












,^ 







_ .0 









" 


\\" 








y. 


=--?^ 


^^ 




-2° 










V 


\ '* 






y/-- 


.'' 






-3° 












v\ 


^^.^ 


.--'y 


^ 








-4° 












\\ 


y 












- 5° 














/ 












- 6° 














/ 












- 7° 














/ 














WINTER- 


SPRING. 


SUMMER. 


AUTUMN.. 1 



At surface. At C inches beloju surface Atifeetielow surface. 

-Differences of temperature for young trees, Lintzel Station, woods and open fields ( W— O). 



POKEST INFLUENCES. 
Soil temperatures — Continued. 



321 



■Hi° 






















. 


_ ■ 









\ 










y 





»-«-^:^ 


/ 




- 1° 






\ 




\ " - 






— "■ 


/ 


/ 




- 2° 








\ 


^ 


-^'-• 


--^-^ 


^y' 




/ 






- 3° 








\ 




\ 






"^^ 


/ 








- 4.° 












\ 














- S° 












\ 


" 














WINTER. 


SPRING. 


SUMMER. 


AUTUMN. 1 



B.esvXts^ on loamy i 



. Results on quartz soil. 



Fig. 48. — Effects of litter on soil temperature (littered surface— bare). ( TT— 0.) 



+ 3° 




















. 






+ 2° 


















.-^■;> 


1 ■ 


P^^!:^ 




+ 1° 




^ 














K'"' -^ 


y 




■-■ 





1 


■\>v 


-^^ 






..^ 


.,--^ 


:^-^ 


y 








- |» 






^ ■ 


^-~~- 




:^ 


'^^ 


^ 










- 2° 






^ 


— — 


















-s" 




























WINTER. 


SPRING. 


SUMMER. 


AUTUMN. J 



• Dcfth of O.S inch. Depth of 4.C inches Depth of 9.S inches. 



Fie. 49.— Ditference of soil temperature, iinJer sod, and Ijare surface (sod— bare) . Beoqnerel's observations. 



+ 1° 

















.— — 




"■--,. 


h- 






























u 


- 1° 






y/Mm 




•ii!^ 


^^ 


P 








^_,:_-^ 


r^m 






-2° 


- 





——— 




\ 


"^^ 


W/,...^ 




— — -^ 




/ 




- 3° 










"'n 






ggXi^ 






Y 




- 4° 












\ 








/ 






- S° 












\ 














- 6° 












\ 






^^y" 








- 7° 














^-~._ 


— -" 












WINTER. 


SPRING 


SUMMER, 


AUTUMN. 1 



Fig. 50. — Under decidnous trees. 



+ 2° 


























+ 1 ° 










r 








' 




'■-- 































. 


- 1° 






'v.v/m/i'/ 


Wmi 


¥m 


te 






, 


/Ji. 








-2° 


-^^ 










^^-1 






_^_ji^^ 






^■^~ 


- 3° 






~—-~. 


.... 














y^ 




- 4.° 








^ 


— — 


. — 














-5° 
















— 


— — ' 










WINTER. 


SPRING. 


SUMMER. 


AUTUMN. 1 



FiQ, 51.— Under evergreen trees. 





- 1° 


^ 


ST^* 


_,.-=: 




...-"::> 


\ 


^-. 


^ 






^/i/^A 


I'lU'llS'. 


-2° 
















~^ 


— — ^ 










WINTER. 


SPRING. 


SUMMER. 


AUTUMN 1 



MINIMA. 

H. Doc. 181 21 



'MAXIMA. 



Fig. 52 Under young forest (Lintzel). 



322 



FOEESTRY LNVESTIGATIONS V. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 



Air temperatures m forests and opei} fields. 
Minimum. Maximum. 



Fritzen, - ■ 

Kurwien, - - 

Carlsberg, - - 

Eberswalde, - 

Schmiedefehl, - 
Friedriehsrocle, 
Sonnenherg. 
Marienthal, 

Lintzel, - ■ 

Haderslehen, - 

Sehoo, - - . 

Lahnhof, - ■ 
Hollemth, - 
St. Johann, 

Hagenau, - - 

Nemnatli, - ■ 

Melkerei, - . 
Average, 






Scale. i_ 



Fig. 53.— Forest air temperature dittbrences (W—0). German stations. Mean annual (cross- 
bar), maxima (below zero line), minima (above zero line), and range (length of lines). 



FOREST INFLUENCES. . 
Air iemperaturen in forests and open fields — Continned. 



323 



+ 2° 


























+ 1 ° 




















"~,^ 



























"^N 


-~,^ 




- 1° 




1 


i?^-- 


"■ 


R'*^^? 


1 




■ ■^■^^^^ 


- 2° 












^ 









-^ 






-3° 










\ 


^ 


^^ 




/ 






- 4-° 










\ 
\ 










/ 






-6° 












\ 






/ 








- 6° 












\ 
\ 






/ 


' 








- 7° 












\ 
\ 




y 










-8° 












\ 


^ 












- 9° 














~~^ 














WINTER. 


SPRING. 


SUMMER. 


AUTUMN. 1 



Fm. .•i4.— Friedriclisroae 



+ 1° 


h 




1 


1 







.— . 













"t --j- 










- 1" 




'mm. 


k__- 




_ I 


^^ ^ 


^^^^ 


-2° 










""^^ 


/ 




y 


__ 


-3° 


"~~ 


— — 


--"^ 


■~ — -.^ 




^ 


V^ 


/ 




-4° 










\ 








-"^^ 




/ 








-S" 










\ 










/ 




-6° 












^. 








/ 






-7° 












\ 








/ 






-8° 


















■'^ 










WINTER. 


SPRING. 


SUMMER. 


AUTUMN. 1 



Fig. 55. — Hagenan. 



+ 3° 




















^^ 






+ 2° 




'""-- 








U- — 








'-^ 




_.^ 


+ 1 " 























































- 1° 






— iiiai^ 


bic 




p;^ 


'/////////, 


w/z/m 


W///''/// 


iii2^22 


^^2iii^ 






-2° 
























__,- 


-3° 


^^-, 


' 


v,^ 
















^^' 




-4-° 






"•^ 


^ 


















-5° 








"■->- 




'" 








- 








~ 






WINTER. 


SPRING, 


SUMMER. 


AUTUMN. 1 



Fig. 56.— Sonnenliprg^. 



+ 1° 










. ... 




— ~^ 






-~- 








- 1° 


^^ 


\i/:'miA 


\wy/^A 


m/j/d^ 


^//////A 


^^i^i^ 


■^////A 


'/iO^^^ 


Y^TTT^' 


W//y 


^ii^ 


._-—- 


-?■> 






~--^_ 





--^^ 












^^ 




- 3° 












^^-.^ 








,-' 






-4' 




























WINTER 


SPRING 


SUMMER 


AUTUMN. 1 



Fig. 57. — Eberswalde. 



4-1' 


















































"1 





" 


- 1° 





^ 








' 


Kitwy^^^/^ 


'm^ 


W//M 


^^ 







- 2' 












~'~ — 


-^^ 








'''' 




- 3° 
















^^_. 












WINTER. 


SPRING. 


SUMMER. 


AUTUMN. 1 



Fig. 58.— Sclioo. 



324 



FOEESTKY INVESTIGATIONS U S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
Air iemperattire in forests and open fields — Coutiuued. 





....MINIMA. 








MEAN. 








■ 


MAXIMA. 


+ 3- 
















"■.. 






+ 7? 










,, 








*^^ 






+ 1° 










,-' 










'-v,_ 












' 




u_ 












- 1° 






.— 


.^"--"V 


-^ 


'■'■' i ■ '■ , 


-^^^iSiiii'p.^ 


■- Z" 













\ 






fZ^,2^.=-^ 








- 3° 










s 












^^ 


'-'' 


- 4° 












\ 










^- 




- 5° 












\ 








_^^ 






-6° 












'■.^ 




. — -^ 










WINTER. 


SPRING. 


SUMMER. 


AUTUMN. 1 



Fig. 59.— Marientlial. 



+ 1° 
















_.,. 










1 














N^ ,. 


.-—- 


"' 






---- ,--^ 


- 1° 












■— -^ 






■p^'-.- 




- 2° 












.. ■ ' f.' , ■ -, . 


r""^ 




' 




- ,1° 












\ 








^ 






- 4° 












\ 






, 








- 5* 














"--.__ 




_-^ 










WINTER. 


SPRING. 


SUMMER 


AUTUMN. 1 



Fig. 60.— Hader-sleben. 



+ ?" 


























+ 1° 

























^^ 











..- 


















_ 


- 1' 










-mm^ 


i _^ J ' ' __ 


"-m 




^-= 


- 3" 
















-- 






y 




-4° 












\ 








/ 






- 6° 












\ 






^_-- 


.y 






- %° 












"" 


1 


— 












WINTER. 


SPRING. 


SUMMER. 


AUTUMN. 1 



Fig. 61.— Averag 



+ 2° 
















_,,_- 




,^^ 






+ 1° 


\-" 






-_. 












"-■ 















, 













- 1° 




ma^ 


■mm 


'W/^A --'-_ 


. K''-. 




/i 


2^^ 




-2° 


•».^_^ 






"~~ 


■"^ 


^'"^--i 


i^//-'^.\ 


,"1-,".-:.. 




r^ 


^ 


V-^"' 


- 3° 




~- — 


— ^ 
















X 




-4° 








"■ 


~. 










/' 






-S" 












"\ 








/ 






-6° 








1 




^~- 















WINTER. 


SPRING. 


SUMMER. 


AUTUMN. 1 



Fig.— 62. — Elevated stations. 



+ r 





































'"' 










"-- 




- 1° 


Z!Z_ 


'^'"^ 








^^^ . 




. y/ 


'W^ 







- 2° 










'^s 






















-3° 










N 










/ 






-4° 












X 








y 






-5° 




























WINTER. 


SPRING. 


SUMMER. 


AUTUMN. 1 



Fig. 63.— Near sea level. 



FOREST INFLUENCES. 
Tree-toil tonperatiirc differences, woods and open-fields. 



325 



Average, - - 


. _ - 


St. Johann, - - 


- il9. 


Melherei, - - 


- 26. 


Hollerath, - - 


- 2S. 


Schmiedefekl, - 


- ;;i. 


Sonnenbery, 


- -■'• 


Marienthal, - - 


- o'6'. 


Fritzen, - - - 


- 26. 


Hagenaii, - - 


- 52. 


Lahnhof, - - 


- 38. 


Kurwien, - - 


- 51. 


Friedrichsrode, - 


- 26. 


Eberswulde, - - 


- 39. 


Carlsherg, - - 


- 3G. 


Hadersleben, 


- 41. 


Mmniath,- - - 


- SO. 


Schoo, - - - 


- IS. 



Minimum 




Maximum 






















































































































































i 













































































































Scale. L 



Fig. 64. — Forest temperature ditVerences for the year at lieig:litof the tree top (IF— 0). 



+ z° 


























+ 1° 







_^. 















"--, 

































- 1° 


_^ 












.___ 


i 




'm^ 




.- 


- 2° 




■ 








-.^ 
















- 3° 












~^N 








• 






- 4° 














^— _ 


■ 


—--^ 


' 








WINTER. 


SPRING. 


SUMMER. 


AUTUMN. 1 



FiQ. 65 Average differences of tree.top temperatiire, sixteen German stations ^ TF— 0), 



326 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS V. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
Tree-top temperaiure differences, woods and open fields — Continued. 

MINIMA. MEAN. MAXIMA. 



+ ?' 
















,.' 










+ r 


















\ 









^— - 




^^--^ 


f^~C 


^^ 










■•• 




=^.-=^ 


- 1° 










\ ^ 


WM, 


WM 


W^ 


^ii^ 


' ^^' 1 


,-2° 










\ 


"^ 


« 


m^ 




y 




-5" 










\ 








/ 






-4° 












\ 






/ 








-5° 
















• 
./ 










- 6° 














^■~- — 














WINTER. 


SPRING. 


SUMMER. 


AUTUMN. 1 



Fig. 66.— Friedrichsrode. 



+ 2° 


























+ r 









;t— •- 






- 






""--- 








- 1° 


^f^ass 


2jJij5^ 


:A:A:ZiZi 


bziiiii. 


'/^'//^lU. 


^////^' 


'//////A 


fe^^^2^:t^^^ii^^kkW^ 


rteijg 


- 2° 






^^^ 













^ 


/^ 




-3° 










~~' 





_ 




.-^ 








WINTER. 


SPRING. 


SUMMER. 


AUTUMN. 1 



Fig. 67.— Eberswalde. 



+ 3° 




_._ 










,,,'- 












+ 2° 






'~~---. 




■-' 
















+ 1° 





























. 




















'^-, 


.---' 


+ 1° 






■■^ 


y/MZo 


w^ 


^^ 


^^ 




wd 




;%%^ 


^^ 


+ 2° 


^ 






















^^- 


+ 3° 


\ 



















^' 


--''' 




+ 4-° 






-^ ^ 





- 


^ 








/ 






+ 5° 












X 








/ 






+ 6° 














""-- 





--''' 








WINTER. 


SPRING. 


SUMMER. 


AUTUMN.,^ 1 



Fig. 68.— St. Johann. 



+ 1° 




..^ ■ 













- 




-. 




..^ 




























1 ^ 


_,.--• 




- 1" 











--.^^ 








.^^ 








.. — 


— --- 


-2" 














~"^ 


'" 












WINTER. 


SPRING, 


SUMMER. 


AUTUMN. 1 



Fig. 69.— Carlsberg. 













....^ 















-.=.... 1 




1" 




\_Z'-\ 


1 - 


'-" 




~~ ^ 


^-c: 


iiim^i^u 


f-^a^ 






















~''^- 


"^~... 






"^ 


























WINTER. 


SPRING. 


SUMMER. 


AUTUMN. 1 



Fig. 70.— Sohoo. 



FOREST INTFLUENCES. 
Tree-lop temperature differences, xeoods and open fields — Continued. 
-MINIMA. , MEAN. MAXIMA. 



327 



+ 3° 

























+ ?° 


^--""" 





















"**-, 







+ 1° 











































_^__ 










- 1° 



























— z° 


^ 


--^ 


















^"^^ 




-3° 








"^v 


."^ 


. 


"-- 


_. 


-^_ 


• 








WINTER. 


SPRING. 


SUMMER. 


AUTUMN. 1 



Eia. 71.— Sonnenberg. 



-1-2° 










y 











'■--, 




-1- r 


, 





















"~*--, 


. 





111-^^-^-— 






^y 




^ 


^^ — 











- 1° 




1 






^^ 


~-~,. 












^---' 


-?° 






"~- 


■ 


' 




r^. 




,^- 


--'" 




-.1° 




























WINTER. 


SPRING 


SUMMER, 


AUTUMN. 1 



Fig. 72. — Kiirwieu. 






.—- 





-4-- 




1 J 









- 1° 


•mm 


t^ ' ' 




: — \ — 






""'^ 


'5-^ 


-7° 


— — ^ 


^"-==:^~_, 


— — _ 


■ — ^=— — .— ^ 


-J^^ 


^- 


-^° 




"^^- 


^ 








, 1 




""■^^ 




/ 




-4° 






"■ 


— ~-~ 





^-''' 




^^^ 




/ 






-.s° 


















^v 


/ 






-6° 














1 


^ 










WINTER. 


SPRING. 


SUMMER. 


AUTUMN. 1 



FlQ. 73.— Hagena 



+ 1" 








^- — 


^ 

















_-;:^ 


z=„.<^ 


r^^ 


---:r 


^- 




"-- — - 










- 1' 










'0 


^ - 


: i _—-. 


S-m 


.:auii. 


„,._£. 


-2° 














■--^-'"' 




y 






-3° 












\ 

\ 


\ 


-— ' 








-4-° 














- — - 


' 












WINTER. 


SPRING. 


SUMMER. 


AUTUMN. 1 



FlG.74.-Nenm:it.Ii. 




Fig. 75.— DeciUuous trees, 



328 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATtOXS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



+ 2° 


























+ r 


.,.-- 





_.--"" 















'"--- 


































- 1° 














1 




iiii^ 


^^S^ 






- 2° 




~~^-~ 


--^^ 
















^■^' 




- 3° 












"** 





—-^ 




/ 






- 4° 




























WINTER. 


SPRING. 


SUMMER. 


AUTUMN. 



Fig. 76.— Tree-top temperature (liftereD(/.'s [^Y — O), evergreen trees. 



+2° 












r^ 




:::::; 













■H" 




_,.,.- 






/ 


/f 




^\ 


r^<.\ 









..^ 





-^ 




//■' 








^-~-.^\ 








— — 




" ' 




/// 












■- 







WINTER. 


SPRING. 


SUMMER. 


AUTUMN., 



Dccicliioas h'ecs Everijrieii trees. Ai-enije of all. 

FrG. 77.— Vertical te]iipuratiu-e, gradient in woods, de.grces F.alirenlieit for 100 feet. 



+ 5° 
















^~ 


— . 








+ 4° 








y 


— 


^\ 


.^;^ 


^^T- 


-^ 


N. 






•»-3° 








/ 










-X 








+ 2° 


^'' 





■ 


^ 


-^ 


/ 








-' 


~^x 




+ 1° 


^- 


— ,.^ 






_.. 


y 










■^ 


b 































WINTER. 


SPRING. 


SUMMER. 


AUTUMN. 1 



, EVERGREEN TREES AVERAGE OF BOTH DECIDUOUS TREES. 

!FiQ. 78. — Vertical temperature gradients from observations aboAe trees. 



+ r 


DECIDUOUS TREES. 








,___ 











-^ 










— ___ 




+ r 














*■""• — 


=- 










EVERGREEN TREES. 


+ 1° 





























^-— ' 




- 


"" 













~ 


■- 


"-^.^ 


, 


- 1° 

























...---' 


. 


-2° 














"■ 














WINTER. 


SPRING. 


SUMMER. 


AUTUMN. 



Fig. 79, — Forest teiuperjitiire, differences above trees — from Fautrat's observations. 



FOREST INFLUENCES. 



62d 




riQ. 83._Ka,tio of evaporation from water surface in field (upper curved and forest (lower curve) to 
precipitation (top line). 



100 


























75 






, 


-^ 




/ 


^\ 


\ 


^ 


-X 




^ 


50 








V 




^ 




\ 


J 


1 




25 


■'" 




^^~-'\ 







"^~-": 











--7 


-'-" 


. — ■- 





WINTER. 


SPRING. 


SUMMER. 


AUTUMN. 

- 



,-^ EVERGREEN TREES. DECIDUOUS TREES »"" 

f IG. 84.— Percentage of evaporation in woods to that in the open air. 



1. THE WORK IN TIMBER PHYSICS IN THE DIVISION OF 

FORESTRY. 



Bv FiLiHKRT Roth, 
Laie Assistant in the Divisluii. of Forestry, 



Historical. 



As iu tlie wise of other materials, exact iuvestigatiou of the properties of wood did not begin 
nntil the latter part of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth century, when Girard 
Buflbn and Duhamel du Monceau iu France, and Peter Barlow, the nestor of engineering in 
England, laid the foundation for this inquiry by devising suitable methods and working out 
correct formulse for the computation of the results. As might be expected, the results of this 
pioneer work, particularly that of the French investigators, were often contradictory, and have 
to-day little more than historical value. 

vSubsequently our knowledge of wood in general, and that of European species in particular, 
was increased by a number of experimenters. Among these, Chevandier and Wertheim in France, 
and Nordlinger in Germany, stand out conspicuous. Unfortunately, their apparatus was crude 
and, in the case of the French workers, the series was too small to satisfy so complicated a 
problem, while Nordlinger was obliged to content himself with small and few specimens, owing to 
a want of proper equipment. 

In England considerable money was expended from time to time both by Government and 
private enterprise, but the eagerness of making the matter as practicable as possible led, unfortu- 
nately, to much testing of large sizes and to the employment of insufficient (because unsystematic) 
methods, so that such extreme experiments as those of Fowke and others have really neither 
furthered science nor helped the practice. In this country the engineering world for a long time 
relied largely on the results of European testing, and the wood consumers in general depended 
on a meager accumulation of experience and crude observation concerning most of the fine array 
of valuable and abundant kinds of timber offered in our markets. 

Ignorance and prejudice had their way. Chestnut oak was pronounced unfit for railway ties, 
and thus millions of logs were left rotting iu the woods, though this prejudice had not a single 
fair trial to support it. "Bled" longleaf, or Georgia pine, was considered weaker and less durable, 
millers and dealers were obliged to misrepresent their goods, causing unnecessary loss and litiga- 
tion, and yet there existed not a single record of a properly conducted experiment to substantiate 
these views. Gum was of no value. Southern oak was publicly proclaimed as unfit for carriage 
builders, and the views as to the usefulness of dift'erent timbers were almost as numerous as the 
men expounding them. 

The engineering world was the first to realize this deficiency, and men like Hatfield, Lanza, 
Thurston, and others attempted to replace the few auti(iuated and unreliable tables of older text- 
books by the results performed on American woods and with modern appliances. 

In addition to these efibrts of engineers, Sharpies, under Sargent's direction, in his great 
work for the Tenth Census of ISSO, subjected samples of all our timber trees to mechanical tests, 
but, since in these tests only a few select pieces represented each species, the engineering world 
never ventured to use the results. As regards the rest of the wood testing in oar country, it may 
be said that it generally possessed two serious defects: (1) the wood was not properly chosen, and 
(2) the methods of testing were defective, especially with respect to the various states of seasoning, 
wood being tested in iilmost every state from green to dry, without distinction. This is the more 
330 



TIMBER PHYSICS. 



331 



remarkable since the important influence of moisture was recognized and emi)hasized by both 
French and German experimenters more than forty years ago.' 

These facts were fully appreciated by the engineers of our country, as is well shown by the 
numerous, often emphatic, approvals and recommendations of the timber-physics work undertaken 
by the Division of Forestry, and by the eagerness with which wood consumers generally seized on 
all information of this kind as fast as the Division of Forestry could supply the same. 

Southern and Northern Oak. 

Though fully planned before, the work in timber physics was really begun in order to decide 
an important controversy as to the relative value of Southern and jS^ortheru grown oak. 

A representative committee of the Carriage Builders' Association had publicly declared that 
this important industry could not depend upon the supplies of Southern timber, as the oak grown in 
the South lacked the necessary qualities demanded in carriage construction. Without experiment 
this statement could be little better than a guess, ^ and was doubly unwarranted, since it condemned 
an enormous amount of material, and one produced under a great variety of conditions and by at 
least a dozen ditterent species of trees, involving, therefore, a complexity of problems difficult 
enough for the cai'eful investigator, and entirely beyond the few unsystematic observations of the 
members of a committee on a flying trip through one of the greatest timber regions of the world. 

A number of samples were at once collected (part of them supplied by the carriage builders' 
committee) and the fallacy of the broad statement mentioned was fully demonstrated by a short 
series of tests and a more extensive study into structure and weight of these materials. From 
these tests it appears that pieces of white oak from Arkansas excelled well-selected pieces from 
Connecticut both in stiShess and endwise compression (the two most important forms of resistance). 

Results of testa on Northern and SoiUhern white oak made in Washington University Lahoratory, St. Louis, Mo., hy Prof. 

J. B. Johnson, iSS!). 



' For a more complete history see Bulletin fi of Division of Forestry. • 

^ See Report of the Division of Forestry, 1890, page 209. 

(W. ^ total load at center in puuuda 
W. L.-i where L. = length in inches. 

D. ^ deflection in inches. 
I b. =^ breadth yi inches. 
^ h. — height in inches. 





Test piece. 




Bending and cross 


breaking. Size of test piece 14 by 
Ig by 24. 


Compression. 




Shearing. 




Stiffness. 


tritimate 
strength. 


Resistance to 
shock. 


Endwise. 


Tran 


averse. 


Longitudinal. 


Where procured. 


No. 


^Modulus 
. 1 of elaa- 

' ■ per 
sipiare 
inch. 


Range 


Modulus 
3. W. L. 
2. h. h^ 
pounds 

per 
square 
inch. 


Range 
No. 


Modulus 

inch- 
pounds 
per cubic 

inch. 


j Modulus 
] pounds 

r-ge' „p, 

inch. 
Size li by 
5 iuches. 


Range 

No. 


Modulus 
pounds 

per 
square 
inch. 


Range 
No 


Modulua 

pounds 

per 

inch. 

1,375 
1, olio 


A.i 


I 

Average 

J. II 

Average 

Avor.ige 


1 
2 

3 
4 

5 
6 


■ 9 1 990,000 
5 ; 1,280,000 


3 
1 


13, 760 
18,500 


4 
1 


59 
92 


6, 160 
7 1 5,480 


1 
3 


3,400 
3,100 


3 
I 




n 1. Iffi.OOO 1 1 


16, 130 1 


76 


3 


5,820 


I 


3, 250 


1 I 1. 4eK 


A. 


6 ' 1, 120, 000 
10 920,000 


8 
5 


12. 300 
12, 700 



5 


47 
55 


11 


4,740 
4,980 


7 
.1 


2,500 
2, 800 


G I 

7 ! 1,225 




4 1 1,020,000 


3 


12, 500 


3 


51 


5 


4,860 


2 


2, 650 


3 1 1,225 




11 j 850,000 
7 , 1, 140, 000 


9 

7 


11, 400 
12, 300 


7 


83 
45 


8 
10 


5, 230 
4,820 


5 
8 


2. 700 
2,500 


4 1,375 
2 1 , 540 




5 995, 000 


5 


11,850 


2 


64 


4 


5,025 


3 


2,600 


2 1,458 


B 


5 


ize: IJby Ig by 18 


inches. 






Size: 1 


g cube. 








8 
9 


3 1.570,000 
8 1, 100, 000 

4 1,385,000 


6 

2 
11 


12, 380 
14, 690 
11,240 


9 
3 
11 


27 
82 
19 


4 
I 
5 


6,800 
7,800 
6.800 


11 
2 
9 


2,000 
3, 200 
2.300 


10 860 
5 1 1,260 

11 , 82.T 




2 1 1,351,667 


2 


12, 770 


4 


43 


2 7, 133 


4 


2, 500 


5 1 9S2 






10 
11 






1 1,653,000 

2 . 1,581,000 


4 
10 


13, U30 
11, 590 


8 
10 


30 
22 


3 
2 


6,900 
7,700 


6 

10 


2. 0011 
3,100 


8 
9 


1,050 
940 




1 1 1,617,000 






5 26 


1 


7,300 


' 


2,350 


4 


095 



















3 Yoim^a moilulus of elasticity: ^=^T"WirTr3 



332 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
Beacriptioii of test material and results of phjisieal examination. 



Notation as to station, site, and tree. 



Niimbor of test piece 

Exposure i n tree 

Heigli t in tree 

Position in tree (witli reference to iieripljery) 

Size of test material : 

Lengtb ' 4 



. I. Connecti- A. h. 11. Connec- 



cut xipland. 
1. 
Nortb. 
"Butt cut." 
Not known. 



1 rings). 



Breadth - 

Deptii (measured i 

Number of rings 

Width of rings (average) 

Summer wood as a wliole 

Firm bast tissue 

Space lost by large vessels 

Moisture conditions when tested. 
Density 



2.7 miUimeter.s. 
80 per cent. 
GO per cent. 
14.7 percent. 
Nearly seasoned. 
.84 



ticut lowland. 
3. 
■ Soutbwest. 

" Butt cut." 
I Not known. 



1| incb. 
l| incb. 

1.5 millimeters. 
54 per cent. 
37.5 per cent. 
24.9 per cent. 
Half seasoned. 
.77 



Not specified. 



These particular tests can hardly settle definitely any question. Samples 1 and 2 being 
selected stock, second growth, can not be used for comparison with samples of B, except to show 
that for stiffness the unselected Southern stock is superior to the best Northern growth, as also in 
resistance to endwise compression. The samples 3, 4, 5, and 6 are probably more nearly compara- 
ble to samples of B, and here we find the Southern oak very miich superior, not only in stiffness 
and columnar strength, but also in ultimate cross-breaking strength, while for resistance to shock, 
at least one sample of Southern oak is superior to three samples of forest-grown ISTorthern, and 
even to one of the best Northern second growth. This piece (No. 8) exhibits, altogether, qualities 
which render the verdict tenable that Southern oak is not necessarily inferior to Northern oak in 
any of its qualities. 

Beyond this it would not be safe to use these figures for generalizations. 

In 1888 the really first beginning in timber physics was made in the form of a preliminary 
physical and structural examination of a set of trees representing the more important lumber pines 
of the South and of the lake region, as well as of bald cypress. A comprehensive plan was fully 
worked out and the mistakes of former methods were carefully avoided. In 1891 a more extensive 
study of the four great Southern timber pines, the longleaf, Cuban, loblolly, and shortleaf, was 
begun, and the material was at the same time collected in such a manner as to enable a detailed 
inquiry into the relative merits of timber bled or tapped for turpentine as compared with unbled 
timber. 

The trees were collected by Dr. Charles Mohr, of Mobile, Ala., an acknowledged authority on 
the botany of the region, and thus a correct identification was assured. Of each tree entire cross 
sections as well as the intervening logs were utilized, the former being subjected to examinations 
into their specific weight (the acknowledged indicator of many valuable technical properties), into 
the amount of moisture contained, into the shrinkage consequent on drying, and into the struc- 
tural peculiarities, particularly those structural features which are readily visible and may be 
utilized in practice for purjioses of timber inspection. 

The logs were sawed and tested according to definite plans in the well-equipped test laboratory 
of the Washington University, St. Louis, Mo., under the direction of Prof J. B. Johnson, a recog- 
nized authority in engineering. The first series of test results are embodied in Bulletin No. 8 of 
the division, where the strength values for the longleaf pine are fully tabulated and discussed. So 
eagerly was this bulletin sought by wood consumers, that an edition of 5,000 copies was exhausted 
in a short time. 

Bled and Unbled Pine. 

In addition, this series of tests together with an extensive chemical analysis and physical and 
structural examination of material from unbled and bled trees, as well as from trees bled and 
abandoned for five years, re-enforced by an extended study of bled and unbled timber at various 
points of manufacture, proved conclusively that the discrimination against bled timber was 
unwarranted, since the bled timber was neither distinct in appearance, behavior, nor strength. 

To avoid error in so important a matter, and also for a comparison of the three most important 
turpentine trees — the Cuban and longleaf with the loblolly pine — the exteusive chemical analyses 
of Dr. M. Gomberg, of the Michigan University, were repeated and extended by Mr. O. Carr, of 
the Chemical Division of the Department of Agriculture. This series of additional ghemical 



RESINOUS CONTKNTS OF PINE. 333 

analyses fully substautiated Dr. Gomberg's work, so that it was safe to announce that: (1) Bled 
timber is as strong as unbled timber; and (2) that it contains the resinous substances iu the same 
amounts and similarly distributed as the wood of unbled timber, so that it seemed to follow as a 
simple corollary that bled timber is also as durable as unbled, and hence equal to the latter in 
every respect. 

The importance of this fact was quite fully realized. Trautwine, in his standard work, the 
Engineers' Pocketbook, at once placed tlie fact on eminent record, and the lumbermen of the 
South, as well as all trades journals, spread the welcome news in every paper and at every 
opportunity. 

The work of Mr. Gomberg iu determining the distribution of the resin through the different 
parts of the tree is unique iu method and classical iu its clear scientific procedure and statement. 
Since the publication in which it first appeared was at ouce exhausted, it appears proper to repro- 
duce it iu full, leaving out only a few tables, as a part of the most valuable work in timber physics 
performed under direction of the Division of Forestry: 

A Chemical Study of the Eesinous Contents and their Distribution in Trees of 

THE LONGLEAF PiNB BEFORE AND AFTER TAPPING FOR TURPENTINE. 
[By M. Gomberg.] 

Botauists tell us that resins are produced by the disorganization of cell walls aud by the 
breaking dowu of starch granules of cells. Chemists believe that resins are oxidation products of 
volatile oils, the change being expressed by formula as follows: 2C]oHi,;+30=C2oHm02+H,0. 

Whatever view be correct,' one thing is certain, and that is that the formation of either resins 
or essential oils requires the presence iu the tree of those peculiar conditions which we call vital. 
The tree must live, must be active, must assimilate carbon dioxide and imbibe moisture, in order 
that oil of turpentine and rosin be formed. 

The heart of the tree is the dead i^art of it. It does not manufacture any turpentine. A part 
of the oleoresin iu it had l)eeu formed when the heartwood was yet sapwood, and remained there 
after the change from sap to heart had taken place. It is also probable that the heart of the tree 
acts as a storehouse in which there is deposited a portion of the oleoresin formed in the leaves 
and sap. 

When a tree is tapped for turpentine there are two possible changes that might be supposed 
to take place: (1) The tree may be considered as placed in a pathological condition, when it will 
strive to ijroduce a larger amount of oleoresin in order to supply the amount removed. In a few 
/years the energy of the tree will be exhausted and the amount freshly supplied will fall far below 
the amount of oleoresin drawn oii by the tapping. The tapjting will then have to be discontinued. 
The oleoresin in the heartwood will in this case remain untouched. (2) The oleoresin previously 
stored away in tiie heart might, by some unknown means and ways, also be directed toward the 
wound. 

If the first change takes place then, the tapping will have little eU'ect upon the chemical 
composition of the heartwood. If, however, the second condition prevails during tapping, then 
of course the heartwood will be seriously affected for some time afler tapping, and will contain a 
much smaller amount of oleoresin than it contained before tapping. Moreover, the tapping may 
affect not only the amount of oleoresin, but also the quality of the new product and the relative 
distribution of volatile products. 

For this reason the chemical side of the i)roblem has been approached by parallel analyses of 
tapped or untapped trees for their relative amounts of turpentine. It was hoped that by a large 
series of analyses an average might be obtained showing whether tapped and untapped trees differ 
from each other in that respect. 

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF TURPENTINE. 

Under the name of turpentine is known an oleoresinous juice produced by all the coniferous 
trees iu greater or less amount. It is found in the wood, bark, leaves, and other parts of the 
trees. It flows freely as a thick juice from the incisions in the bark. It consists of resin or resins 



' The one view (.Toes not excliiile the other. 



334 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 

dissolved in an essential oil; the latter is separated from the former usuallj'^ by distillation with 
steam. 

There are many varieties of turpentine, corresponding to the different varieties of coniferse, 
but only three are commercially important, as they are the source of the three principal oils of 
turi)entine. 

(1) The turpentine of Finns pinaster (syn. P. tnaritima), collected in the southern departments 
of France around Bordeaux. From it is obtained the French turiieutine, which yields 25 jier cent 
of volatile oil. 

(2) The turpentine from Pinus palustris, P. tceda, P. heterophylia, collected in the southern 
sea-bordering States from ISTorth Carolina to Texas. From them, principally from the first source, 
is obtained the English or American oil of turpentine, which yields 17 per cent of volatile oil. 
Formerly the P. i-igida was also worked for turpentine in the l^Torth Atlantic States, but it is now 
exhausted. 

(3) The turpentine from Pinus laricio var. austriaca, collected mainly in Austria and Galicia. 
From it is obtained the German turpentine oil, which yields 32 per cent of volatile oil. 

The Russian oil of turpentine is obtained from Pinus silvestris and Pinus ledebourii, by the 
direct distillation of the resinous wood, without previously collecting the turpentine. It is said to 
be identical with the German oil of turpentine, but more variable, as it contains products of 
destructive distillation, both of wood and rosin. 

The turpentines from the different sources differ from each other — (1) in their action upon 
polarized light, (2) in the relative amounts of volatile oil they yield on distillation with steam, and 
(3) in the nature of the volatile oils they contain. 

Colophony. — The rosin in the different varieties of turpentine is x'ractically the same. It is 
known as common rosin or colophony.' It consists chemically of a mixture of several resin acids 
and their corresponding anhydrides. The chief constituent is abietic anhydride, C44H62O4, abietic 
acid being C44Hc40;;. The crystals that are noticed in crude turpentine are the free abietic acid; 
on melting the thick turpentine, or on distilling the volatile oil, the acid is changed to the anhy- 
dride. Colophony is nonvolatile, tasteless, brittle, has a smooth shining fracture, sp. gr. about 
1.08. It softens at 80° C, and in boiling water melts completely at 135° C. 

The volatile oil. — The second principal constituent of turpentines are the volatile oils. The 
chief ingredient of the three turpentine oils is a hydrocarbon of the same composition, GioHin; 
nevertheless the three oils have distinct hydrocarbons differing from each other in physical if not 
in chemical properties. The empirical formula of the hydrocarbon is CioHn;, and according to the 
latest researches of Wallach ^ it has the following structural formula: 



cm 

CJSF 



thus being a dihydro-para-cymene, paracymene being C10H14, 




cj/ccj/jj^ 
c 



EM 



CCHa 



Cff 



' Coloplioii, a city of Iconia, wlience rosin was obtained by the Greeks. 
= Anii. Cliem. (Liebig), 239, 49; Ber. d. Chem. Ges., 21, 1545. 



RESINOUS CONTENTS OF PINE. 335 

TliL', posLtiou of tliis particular terpene, piuene, will be best seen from the general classiflca- 
tion of terpenes taken from Wallach.' 

I. Memilerpenes or pentenes of the formula CsHs. 

II. Terpenes or dipentenes of the fonnula CioHie. 

(1) Pinene, obtained from many varieties of turpentine. 

(2) Campheiie, obtained artificially from camphor. 

(3) Fenchene, obtained artificially from fenchone, a constituent of many fennel oils. 

(4) Lemoneiie occurs in orange-peel oil, in oils of lemon, liergamot, cuminin, etc. 

(5) Dipeiilene, obtained artificially from pinene. Occurs m Russian and Swedish turpentine. 

(6) Syh'cstrene occurs in Russian and Swedisli turpentine. 

(7) PheJandrene occurs in the oils of bitter fennel and water fennel, elomi, eucalyptus. 

(8) Terpinene occurs in oil of cardamom. 

(9) Terjrinolene, only slightly known. 

III. — Poli/terpeiies, of the formula (CnHs),,, as cedrenes Ci-.Hi, caoutchouc (CsHs)],, etc. 

The hydrocarbon of the American and French oils of turpentine is pinene. It is dextro- 
rotatory when obtained from the American turpentine oil, and is known as austro-terebinthene 
or australene; laivo-rotatory when obtained from the French turpentine oil, and is known as 
terebinthene. Otherwise the two hydrocarbons agree entirely in specific gravity, boiling point, 
and behavior toward chemical reagents. 

The hydrocarbon of the Russian oil of turpentine is sylvestrene. It is dextro-rotatory, and 
has a higher boiling point than pinene. The latter boils at 155° to 156° 0., the former at 175° to 
178° 0. 

But even the turpentine oils of high grade as found on the market do not consist of pure 
pinene; especially is this true of ordinary oil of turi)entiue, which is obtained from the cruder 
turpentine by a single distillation with steam. Dift'erent samples vary from one another 
considerably in their specific rotatory power as well as their boiling point. 

American oil of turpentine has a density of 0.804° to 0.870°. According to Allen ' it begins 
to boil at a temperature between 156° and 160° C, and fully passes over below 170° C. "A good 
sample of rectified American oil will give 90 to 93 per cent of distillate below 165°, the greater 
part of which will pass over between 158° and 160°",' while in tlie experience of J. H. Long,^ 
"In the examination of a large number of pure commercial samples of turijeutine oil it was 
observed that the boiling point was uniformly at 155° to 156°, and that 85 per cent of the samples 
distilled between 155° and 163°. The distillation is practically comjjlete below 185° G." 

Then, again, as found by Long, the vapor densities of many samples of oil are too high to 
allow the formula CioHie for the entire oil. Fractions of different boiling points show different 
degrees of specific rotation. All this would indicate that ordinary turpentine oil contains 
hydrocarbons heavier than pure pinene, CioH,,;. They are probably either isomeric with pinene, 
but of a higher boiling point, or may belong to the polyterpenes. 

Still less do we know of the source of these hydrocarbons. Whether they are produced by 
the tree simultaneously with pinene, and are therefore to be found in the oleoresin or whether 
they are all or in part produced by exteriial agencies after the turijentine has been dipped can not 
be answered. Probably the formation of these other hydrocarbons takes jjlace in both ways 
spontaneously in the tree and by some influences outside the tree. 

Indeed, all terpenes have this property in common that they easily imdergo change, from 
optically active to inactive, from hemiterpeues to terpenes and polyterpenes. The change can be 
brought about either by heat alone, or by heating the terpenes with salts or acids. So, when a 
sample of American turpentine oil of -|-18.6° was heated to 200° C. for two hours it showed an 
opposite rotation of — 9.9°.'' Pinene heated to 250° to 300° C. is converted into dipentene OH, 
boiling at 175°, and a hydrocarbon CH, boiling at 260° 0. 

These illustrations will suffice to show that the transformation of pinene into i.someric and 
heavier hydrocarbons may occur, at least partially, after the turpentine has been removed from 
the tree. 

' Ann. Chem. (Lieblg), 227, 300; Ber. d. Chem. Ges., 24, 1527. ^ Allen, Com. Org. Anal., 2, 441. 

-Allen, Com. Org. Anal., 2, 437. •'.Tour. Anal, and Appl. Chem., 6, 5. 

' MuBpratt's Chemie, 4th ed., 1, 153. 



336 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

The crude turpentine from Pinus paltistris, or long-leaf piue, is tlius made up of — 

(1) Rosin, 75 to 90 per ceut; mostly abietie anhydride. 

(2) Australene, 25 to 10 per cent; bolls at 155° to 156° C. 

(3) Some other terpenes of CiuHmj; small portions ; kind not known. 

(4) Some polyterpenes of (CsHs).!; small portions ; kind not known. 

(5) Cymene (?) Ci,,Hh; small portions, if any ; boils at 175° to 176° C. 

(6) Traces of formic and acetic acids; produced probably by atmospheric oxidation during- collection of 
turpentine. 

ANALYTICAL WORK. 

As both the rosin and the volatile oil are easily soluble in chloroform, ether, carbon disulphide, 
etc., their separation from wood by any of the above solvents would appear to be an easy matter. 
But an exact quantitative determination of the volatile oil ijresents considerable difficulties, and 
for these reasons: (1) Wood can not be dried free from moisture without driving ott' some of the 
volatile hydrocarbons; (2) the ether extract can not be freed entirely from either without some loss 
of the volatile oil. 

If a weighed quantity of wood shavings is exhausted with either, the residue dried at 100° G. 
and weighed, the total loss thus found will represent : 

The moisture = H. 

The rosin = R. 

The volatile hydrocarbons = T. 

It is suSicient to determine two of these factors; the third could then be determined by 
difference. But as has been mentioned before, the ether extract can not be obtained in any degree 




rg^ 



Fig. S5. — Method uf lOiemiral analysis of Inrpentine. 

of purity without loss of turpentine. The evaporation of ether in a stream of dry air, as proposed 
by Dragendorf, for the estimation of essential oils in general, does not give satisfactory results 
with turpentine oil, as Dragendorf himself observed. 

A weighed quantity of a mixture of rosin and oil, made up in about the same proportions as 
they exist in crude turpentine, was dissolved in a suitable amount of ether. The latter was then 
evaporated in a current of dry air till the odor of ether was hardly noticeable. The mixture was 
found to have gained considerably in weight by retaining ether in the thick sirupy oleorosin. It 
was only by heating at 100° 0. for some time that all of the solvent could be driven off, and then 
the mixture was found to have lost in weight. Repeated trials proved that this method could not 
be used safely. 

An attempt was then made to determine the quantities if and B, and thus find Tby diftereuce 
A weighed quantity of wood shavings was placed in a small flask a. The latter was connected 
on one side with a tray of drying bottles, on the other two GaClz tubes h and c, similar in size 
and form. The flask is immersed in boiling water and a current of dry air is passed through the 
whole apparatus for one and one-half hours. The flask is then cooled and air is passed for one 
and one-half hours longer. 

It was thought that while h would retain all the moisture and a portion of the volatile com- 
liounds, c would retain about the same amount of the volatile products only. Gain in weight of 



INVESTIGATIONS INTO RESINS. 



337 



c subtracted from that of b would theu give the moisture H. The sample of wood shavings is 
then exhausted with ether, the latter evaporated, and the residue heated at about 140° to 150° to 
constant weight; this gives the rosin R. If L be the total loss by extraction with ether, we have 

L-H+R=T. 

But it was soon found by experiments upon pure turpentine oil that the two CaClj tubes did 
not retain an equal amount of volatiJe oil. The quantity retained depended upon many circum- 
stances, the chief one being the amount of moisture already present in the CaClj tubes. 

Even had the tubes retained quantities of turpentine oil, this method would still have the 
objection that one of the constitueuts was to be determined by difference— an objection especially 
serious when the ingredient to be so determined is small in comparison with the materials to be 
weighed. 

The writer has therefore attempted to make use of a somewhat different principle. A few 
trials were sufficient to show that the method promised to give satisfactory results. The basis of 
the method is the same which served for the production of Eussian turpentine oil on a large scale, 
namely, the distillation of the volatile products from the wood itself, without previously obtaining 
the turpentine. But instead of condensing the volatile products, their vapors are passed over 
heated copper oxide, whereby they are burned to water and carbon dioxide. Many trials were 
made with this juethod upou pure materials and on samples of resinous wood. As the results 
were found to be entirely concordant and satisfactory, the method was adopted, and by it were 
obtained the results presented in this report. 

DESCRIPTION OF THE METHOD EMPLOYED. 

A weighed amouut of wood shavings is placed in a straight CaCl, tube «. The tube is con- 
nected on one side by means of a capillary tube with a drier A, which serves for freeing the air 
from moisture and COj. The other end of the tube is connected with an ordinary combustion 




llothoil of distillatioa of turpentine. 



tube b coutainiug granulated CuO. The tube is drawn out at one end as is shown in the figure, 
and the narrow portion is loosely filled with asbestus wool. The connection is made glass to 
glass, so that the vapors of distillation do not come in contact with any rubber tubing. The 
forward end of tlie combustion tube is connected with a CaCl. tube c, one-half of which is filled 
with granulated CaCU and the second half with P2O5. Then follows a potash bulb d provided 
with two straight tubes, the first one filled with solid KOH, the second with P2O5. The last tube 
is connected with an aspirator. 

All the connections having been made air-tight, the connection between the tube a and the 
drier A is shut off' by means of a clamp and the aspirator turned on. When the combustion tube 
has been heated to dull redness the burner under the air-bath B is lit and the temperature raised 
to 1100-120° C. The moisture contained in the tube escapes quite rapidly, carrying with it some 
turpentine oil. The capillary tube at the other end of A practically checks backward diffusion 
H. Doc. 181 22 



338 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



or auy accumulation of condensed vapors. In about fifteen minutes all fhe moisture appears at 
the forward end of the combustion tube. The clamp is now opened and a streani of air at the 
rate of somewhat over one liter an hour is passed through the whole apparatus, while the tem- 
perature of the air bath is raised to 155° to 160° C, and kept at that point for about forty-ftve 
minutes. Toward the end of the operation the temperature is raised to 105° to 170° C. for ten 
minutes. Then the light under the air bath is turned off and air aspirated for twenty to twenty- 
five minutes longer. As the air bath is in close contact with the combustion furnace, the whole 
length of the tube is kept at a temj)erature above the boiling point of turpentine oil. In this 
way a coniiilete distillation is insured. 

All the moisture is retained by c, while the CO^ is absorbed in the potash bulb d. The gain of 
weight in o represents the moisture originally present in the sample of wood plus the water 
produced in the combustion of the hydrocarbons. The gain in weight of d represents the amount 
of CO2, derived from the combustion of the volatile products. 

The tube a is now transferred to an ordinary Soxhlet's extraction apparatus and exhausted 
with ether. The latter is distilled oft", the residue dried for about two hours at 100° C, and 
weighed. This represents the amount of rosin in the sample of wood taken. 

As has been jjreviously mentioned, the volatile oil of the oleoresin is not pure australene, 
OioHiG = (C5H8)2. It probably contains some other hydrocarbons, either of the same formula or 
belonging to the class of polyterpenes (CsHg),,. It is clear that whichever they be their percentage 
composition is alike in all; they all have C = 88.23 j^er cent, H = 11.77 per cent. Therefore, so 
far as the combustion of the volatile terpenes is concerned, they can all be represented by the 
equation : 

C,oH„ + 140 = 10 CO,,= 8 H.O 



136 



410 



144 



In other words, 440 parts of OOj are derived from 136 parts of volatile terpenes. 
440:136 = 1:X; X = 0.3091, 
i. e., 1 part of CO2 obtained in the combustion represents 0.309 parts of the volatile hydrocarbons. 
For every 440 parts of COj produced there are 144 jiarts of HoO formed. 
440:144:z.l:X; X = 0.3272, 
i. 0., simultaneously with 1 i^art of CO2 there is produced 0.327 i^arts of H2O. 
Let the weight of the sample taken = W, 
Let the weight of CO2 obtained = W, 
Let the weight of H2O obtained = W", 
Then — W x 0.309 = T, the amount of volatile hydrocarbons. 

W X 0.327 = H', the amount of H2O corresponding to the volatile hydrocai'bons. 
W" X — H', = H the amount of moisture in the wood. 

T H 

-^ =lier cent of T; Tjn-= per cent of moisture. 

Thus the moisture, the volatile hydrocarbons, and rosin are obtained directly from the same 
samiile. Where many estimations are to be made, it is of course unnecessary to cool down the 
combustion tube between successive combustions. 

The temperature of distillation. — Some experiments were made to determine at what tempera- 
ture it is safe to conduct the distillation. Although pure turpentine boils at 156-160° C, yet in 
open air it can be A'olatilized at a much lower temperature, even on the water bath, without any 
difficulty. Especially is this the case when the vapors are removed as soon as formed by a stream 
of air, but it must be remembered that the volatilization of the essential oil directly from the 
wood might be considerably hindered by the large amount of rosin. 

A sample of wood distilled by the method outlined above gave the following results at 
difl'erent temperatures : 





120° 


140° 


150° 160° 


170° 


H20 = 


Per cent, 
1.09 
11.17 


Per cent. 
I.IS 
11.33 


I^er cent. Per cent. 
1.30 1.30 


Per cent. 
1.32 


1 





INVESTIGATIONS INTO RESINS. 



339 





160° 


180° 1 

1 




Per cent. 
4.00 


i'er cent. 
3.98 








Another samijle gave: 



The results would iudicate that the distillation is practically complete at 160°, and that liie 
wood itself does not contribute any CO, by partial decomposion at that high temperature; for, 
should the latter be the case, higher results might be expected at 180° than at 100°, and then the 
sapwood would give much higher numbers for turpentine oil than those actually obtained. 

Even if this method does not give the absolute amounts of volatile hydrocarbons, yet it 
certainly gives results very near the truth, and, what is more important, under the same conditions 
it gives constant results. Therefore, by employing strictly parallel conditions in the analysis of 
the different samples, results are obtained which can be safely used as indices of comparison 
of the relative amounts of volatile hydrocarbons in the samples under analysis. 

MATERIAL FOR A^tALYSIS AND METHOD OF DESIGNATION. 

Materials. — Trees No. 52 and 53, abandoned five years. 

Trees No. 60 and 61, abandoned one year. 

Trees No. 1 and 2, not tapped. 

Trees 54-57, abandoned five years. 

Trees 58-59, abandoned five years. 

Trees C3-65, abandoned one year. 

Trees 66-69, abandoned one year. 

Trees 17-19, not tapped. 
Generally Dist II is 23 feet from ground. 
Disk III is 33 feet from ground. 
Disk IV is 43 feet from ground. 

Method of desif/natiou. — It was thought best to make a somewhat detailed analysis of a few 
bled and unbled trees in order to gain an insight into the quantitative distribution of turpentine 
in the trees. Each disk was divided into pieces of about thirty rings each, the heart and sapwood 
being kept separate. The number of the disk is designated by a roman Jigure, the kind of wood 
by either s for sapwood or h for- heartwood. The arable figure which precedes the h or s designates 
the number of the piece, counting for the sa^jwood 
from the bark; for the heartwood, from the line of 
division between saj) and heart. 

Preparation of material. — The first six tables 
give the results of what might be called "detail" 
analysis, where each i^iece of about thirty rings has 
been analyzed separately. The material for analy- 
sis was prepared in the following way: A radial 
section of the disk, about 1 to 2 inches thick, is 
selected. A piece of 1 inch is cut off transversely, 
and the strip is then divided into pieces of about 

thirty rings each. From the freshly cut transverse surface about 15 grams of thin shavings are 
planed off and placed in a stoppered bottle. The exact amount used for analysis, usually from 3 
to 5 grams, is found by weighing the bottle before and after taking out the portion for analysis. 

The second set of tables, VII to XII, inclusive, give the results of "average" analysis. The 
material for these analyses was obtained by mixing equal quantities of shavings from the corre- 
sponding portions of several trees and taking for analysis an average sample of the mixture. The 
sapwood furnish one analysis and the heart wood was either analyzed as a whole or divided into 
portions, l/i and 2/i, if of considerable thickness. 

NOTE.S ox Tables I to XII. 

Eacb table contains a column "calculated for wood free from moisture," giving tbe per cent of volatile bydro- 
carbons and rosin obtained Ijy calculation from results actually found. Objections migbt be raised to this mode 9f 
interpreting the results. It might be said that the moisture in the wood can not be disregarded, because it is as 
much an essential proximate constituent of wood as the turpentine itself is. But since the analyses were not made 
soon after the trees had been felled, the moisture found in the samples does not represent the original moisture, nor 



Fig. 87. — Distribution of turpentine in trees. (A piece marked 
52 III 2/1 means tree No. 51J, disk III, tlie second piece of the 
heart.) 



340 



FOEESTKY INA^ESTIGATIONS U. 8. DEPARTMENT OF AGKICULTURE. 




Relationship of different parts of 



does it represent eciual portions of it in all samples. Tlie numbers given in the column "water" arc of course 
sutrn-estive as to the comparative degree of retention of moisture by the different samples, since the latter were all 
exposed to about the same intluences. But it seemed best to compare the amounts of volatile hydrocarbons and 
rosin on wood free from that variable constituent ; the moro so as sometime elapsed between the analysis of the 
lirst and last samiiles. 

The last column in each table contains the ratio between the volatile hydrocarbons and rosin. This ratio ig 
multiplied by 100, and means that for every 100 parts of rosin as many parts of the volatile hydrocarbons are found 
as is indicated in the column. This ratio ( \ is of little value in cases when the amount of turpentine is small, 

because a very small increase of the first constituent — an increase within experimental error — will change the 
quotient considerably. An increase of 0.07 per cent of A'olatile hydrocarbons in 60, IV, Is will bring up 
- from 7.2 to 10. A decrease of 0.07 per cent in 52, TV, 2s will change ', from 25.20 to about 19. These numbers 

are therefore of very little significance when applied to the sapwood of all samples, to entire tree 52, and to some 
parts of trees 60 and 1, all of which show only small portions of turpentine. 

DISCUSSION OF KESULTS OBTAINED. 

Relation of rosin and volatile hydrocarbon to moisture, — The amount of moisture retained by 
different samples does not seem to have any direct relation to the amount of oleoresiu in these 
samples. Yet in the same tree, or rather in the different parts of the same disk, there seems to exist 

something like a relation of the two. This is especially notice- 
able in tree No. 53. The moisture retained seems to vary in- 
versely with the amount of oleoresin in the sample. Compare, 
for example, in 53 II, l/(, 2h, 31i; in 53 III, l/i, 2h, oh, iJi; in 
53 IV, 2/i, 3/i, 4/1. The piece richest in oleoresin is generally 
the i^oorest in moisture. But this is by no means a universal 
rule. Some trees show about the same per cent of moisture 
in parts ■widely differing from each other in the amounts of 
turi^entine, and in many instances a smaller amount of tur- 
pentine is associated with a smaller i>er cent of moisture. 
Sapwood and hearticood. — All the analyses, detail and average, show conclusively that the 
sapwood is comparatively very poor in turpentine; it is immaterial whether it co;i;es from a rich 
tree or a poor one, from a tapped tree or an untai^ped one. The turpentine in sapwood reaches 
3 to 4 per cent in very rich trees, as in Nos. 53, 61, and 2; in the remaining trees it is 2 to 3 jier 
cent. Consequently the results obtained for sapwood are not taken into account in the following 
paragraphs. When differences between trees are spoken of, it applies entirely to haartwood. 

The different parts of the same disk show a constant relation in nearly all instances. In 
most cases l/i is the richest, and th(? heartwood grows poorer as we approach the pith of the tree. 
In a few cases, as in 1 III and in 1 IV, Ih and 2/t are practically identical, while iu some instances, 
in 2 III, 61 II, 01 III, and 53 II, Ih is poorer than 2h. In nearly all cases the decline is marked 
in 3/t, and ih is usually found to be the poorest part of the disk. This relationship can be 
represented iu a general way by the following curve: 
Relation of volatile hydrocarhons to rosin.— As the 
turpentine in the tree is a solution of rosin iu an essen- 
tial oil, it will follow that the richer a tree is in tur- 
pentine the richer it will be in the constituents that go 
to make np this mixture. One would also expect that 
the ratio between the volatile hydrocarbons and rosin 
would be tolerably constant in the different parts of 
the same tree, but the results of analysis do not indi- 
cate it. They show that this ratio increases with the 
amount of rosin. A part of heartwood having twice as much rosin as another part will contain 
more than twice as much volatile i^roducts as the second part. This is true in a general sense 
of parts of the same disk, of parts of different disks iu the same tree, and i)arts from different 
trees. There is no distinction iu that respect between bled and nnbled trees. This relationship 
can be formulated in the following way: The crude turpentine from heartwood rich in oleoresin 
will yield a comparatively larger amount of turpentine oil than the turpentine from heartwood 
poor in oleoresin. 



Ih, 


2h 


3h 


4h. 



Fig. 89.— Yield of volatile oil froii: 
turpentine. 



coDStaut (luantitj of 



INVESTIGATIONS INTO EESINS. 



341 



It has been shown that the heartwood s;rows poorer from Ih toward the pith of the tree. It 

T . 
will therefore follow from what has been said in the preceding paragraph that ^ will also grow 

smaller from Ih to the pith. The yield of volatile oil from a constant quantity of turpentine 
can be expressed in a general way by a graphic illustration similar to that which expresses the 
yield of total oleoresiu from different parts of the disk. 

T 
It is difficult to explain satisfactorily this decrease of -^. The two parts of the radial sec- 
tions that have been tlie longest exposed to air are In and the last li. The question naturally 

T 
arises, May not the decrease of t> be due to a greater evaporation of volatile hydrocarbons from 

these two ends? But this can hardly be so. No. 53, II, ih was analyzed at intervals of two 
months and furnished the following data : 



I, Sept. 28. 


II, Nov. 27. 


Hj0=11.23 
T =1.30 
K = 7.9li 


7.24 
1.34 
8.12 



Calculated for wood free from moisture : 



i I- 


11. 


■ T=1.30 
Il.= 8.9G 


1.30 
8.75 



Sufficient experimentul data are lacking to prove conclusively that the volatile hydrocarbons 
do not evaporate to any extent from the heartwood except from freshly cut surfaces of it. 

Relation heiiceen different dixLs of the same tree. — There is no constant relation between the 
different disks of the same tree so far as the amount of oleoresiu is concerned. Although the 
disks do vary from each other, the variation can not be connected with gravitation, by virtue of 
which the lower disks would contain a larger amount of turpentine thauthe upper ones; for dif- 
ferent trees vary from each other considerably in this respect, the variation being apparent lu 
both bled and unbled trees. If a, h, e stand for the amounts of oleoresiu in disks denoted by 
Eoman numerals, the relative magnitudes being represented by the letters in the alphabetic order, 
then the results of analysis can be condensed in the following table for the trees denoted in Arabic 
numbers : 





53. 


60. 


61. 


1. 


2. 


XV 


jj 


'> 




a 


p 


III.... 


b 


c 


a 


c 


b 


II 


" 




b 


b 


a 



It is evident that no constant relation as to amounts of oleoresiu exists between the disks of 
the same tree. 

Gomiyarison of tree r,.2 nnth 58. — ^These two trees were both supposed to have been sound, 
healthy trees at the time of felling, and yet they dift'er from each other as much as two trees could 
differ. The heartwood of one is very rich in turpentine; that of the other contains comparatively 
very small quantities — only a trace. How to explain the difference? Previous to felling they had 
both been tapped for four consecutive years; consequently both must have contained considerable 
amounts of turpentine. Since the last tapping they stood for five years side by side, both exposed 
to the same influences. This great difference can not be traced directly to tapping, for the latter, 
it may be assumed, would have affected both trees equally. The cause of the difference between 53 and 
52 ought to be looked for, ratlicr, in the condition of the two trees before tapping. In connection 
with this it would be interesting to know how much turpentine each tree had yielded when tapped. 

Comparison of trees 00 and 67.^There is a decided difference between the two trees. The high- 
est numbers in 60 are 0.S4 per cent for volatile hydrocarbons and 5.35 for rosin, while in 61 0.75 



342 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS IT. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



and 5.67 are the lowest numbers for the corresponding constituents, the highest being 3.49 and 
1G.29, respectively. Here again we have two trees of about the same age, under apparently the 
same conditions of growth, tapped at the same time and abandoned for the same length of time 
before felling, and yet differing very widely from each other. It is diflicult to conceive why tap- 
ping should have affected the heartwood of these two trees in such a strikingly different manner. 
If the assumption is made that the tapping had drained both trees equally, what explanation can 
be given for the fact that within one year of abandonment one tree is very rich in turpentine while 
the other has less than one-fourth as much? 

Comparison of trees 52 and 53 mth GO and 01. — Compare 53 and 01. Here we have two trees 
both very rich in turpentine, but while 53 had five years of rest after tapping, CI had only one 
year. Had the tajjping forced the trees to pour out their oleoresin previously stored n^) in the 
heart, we should expect to find in the time of rest the prime factor for the tree in resuming its 
natural condition ; but, on the contrary, results of analysis show that time of abandonment before 
felling is of little importance. While we can have a tree very rich in turi^entine within live 
years after tapping, we can also have trees rich and i^oor even within one year, and trees almost 
totally deprived of turpentine in the heartwood within live years after tapj)ing. 

GomiHirison of 1 with 2. — These two trees had never been tapped, and yet neither is rich in 
turpentine. No. 2 contains about twice as much turpentine as No. 1, the difference becoming 
smaller as we go up the tree. The highest numbers for 2 are 1.93 and 14.19 for T and R, respec- 
tively, the lowest 0.86 and 5.89, with an average of about 1 and 7. We can say tliat there is as 
much difference between untapped trees as there is between trees that have been tapped. 

Average analyses. — The average analyses cover 16 trees. Thirteen trees furnish four sets of 
analyses of tapped trees and 3 trees furnish one set of untapped. The results obtained are 
summarized in the following table: 



Tree No. 


II. 


III. 


Kemarlcs. 


T. 


n. 


r 

jjXlOO. 


T. 


Ji. 


T 


54-57 
57-59 
63-65 
66-69 
17-19 


Per cent. 
0.93 
.80 
.91 
.89 
.64 


Per cent. 
5.88 
4.06 
5.32 
4.95 
2.98 


15.58 

19.63 

17.18 

18 

21.37 


Per cent. 
0.58 
.82 


Per cent. 
3.98 
4.29 


14.04 
19.10 


Abandoned 5 years. 

Do. 
Abandoned 1 vear. 

Do. 
Not tapped. 








.71 


3.21 


21.76 



These results show a pretty constant average number for turpentine in tapped trees. The 
heartwood of untapped trees is poorer in both volatile oil and rosin than that of taliped trees. 
And here agaiu it is worthy of notice that time of abandonment is of little importance to tapped 
trees. The trees that had been abandoned for one year are fully as rich as those that liad five 
years to recover from tapping. 

Comparison of tapped intlt. untapped trees. — If now the heartwood of tapped trees be compared 
with that of untapped, one is at a loss as to what conclusions should be drawn from so few 
analytical data. It is remarkable that the two richest trees and the poorest tree are among those 
that had been tapped. Of the remaining 19 trees, there is no difference between the 14 tajiped 
and 5 untapped. Whatever differences are found among bled trees are equally found among 
those that have not been tapped. 

Indeed, from the study of the results of analyses the writer is of the opinion that the difference 
in untapped trees is due to the same cause as the difference in trees that have been tapped. As 
stated above, the cause of tlie difference amoug tapped trees can not be traced directly to 
tapping; it ought to be looked for, rather, in the condition of the trees previous to tapping. 

The difference between trees 52 and 53 can be explained on the following hypothesis : 53 had 
been a rich tree from early growth and had a large amount of turpentine stored up in the heart- 
wood; 52 for some reason or otlier liad A'ery little stored away. When the two trees were sub- 
jected to tapping they gave up whatever turpentine they had in the saj^wood and whatever they 
could produce from season to season, till at the end of four years the production became too small 
in amount and too poor in quality. The trees were then abandoned. But tree No. 53 had its 
oleoresin in the heartwood untouched, while No. 52 had hardly any before tapping, and for the 
same unknown cause did not store away any in the heartwood after the tree had been abandoned. 



RESIN IN BLED AND UNBLED TREES. 



343 



The explanation offered in the preceding paragraph gains still more probability when trees 60 
and Gl are compared with each other and also with 52 and 53. The difference between 1 and 2, the 
results of average analyses— all these are very suggestive of the theory that the sap, and not the 
heart of the tree, supplies the turpentine when the tree is tapped. The fact that the heartwood of 
trees felled one year after tapping is fully as rich or as poor as that of trees felled five years after 
tapping, seems to the writer of especial significance, for it shows that the richness of the heart- 
wood in a tapped tree is independent of time of rest before felling. 

It is a well-known fact that when a pine tree is cut transversely, liquid turpentine immedi- 
ately appears on the fresh surface of the sapwood, while the heartwood remains perfectly clear. 
It would seem as if the turpentine in the sap is far less viscid than that in the heart of a tree. It 
is probable that the turpentine in the sap is richer in volatile hydrocarbons than that in the heart. 
(A difference of cell structure and manner of existence of oleoresins may also account for this 
difference in part. — B. E. F.) 

It is generally stated that crude turpentine as obtained on a large scale yields from 10 to 25 

per cent of volatile oil. This gives §=11.11 to 30, with an average of over 20. This average 
is somewhat higher than that for the -^ as found for the turpentine from heartwood of the 21 
trees analyzed. Although experimental data are wanting to show conclusively that the difference 
in the consistency of the oleoresin from sapwood and heartwood is due to a difference in the 
relative amount of volatile oil, yet it is quite probable that this should be the cause. The oleoresin 
in the heartwood of trees has been produced for the most part when the -heartwood was yet 
sapwood. Therefore that part of turpentine which is ionnd in the heartwood is the oldest in age 
and consequently has been exposed the longest to oxidizing intiuences of air, which gradually 
replace the water when the sapwood changes to heartwood. It is the same kind of oxidation and 
of thickening which takes place when crude turpentine is exposed to the air and sun, or when a 

T 
fresh cut is made in the bark of a tree. It is probably for the same reason that j^becomes smaller 

as we ai)proach the pith of the tree, because the parts nearest the pith are the oldest. 

It is difficult to conceive how the thick oleoresin of the heartwood could be made to flow 
toward the incision when a tree is tapped. It is also difacult to explain by what means the tree 
could change this thick turpentine into a less viscid solution in order that it may flow toward the 
wound. 

One would judge, a priori, from the great difference in the consistency of the turpentine in the 
heart and sap that only the liquid turpentine will flow wheu a tree is tapped. Tapping will then 
have little effect, if any, upon the oleoresin stored up in the heartwood of the tree. A tree whose 
heartwood is rich in turpentine will remain so after tapping. 

The writer is not willing to generalize too hastily from so few results and consider them as a 
solution of the problem. A large number of analyses, devoid of the possibility of chance selection 
of samples, is necessary before a positive or a negative answer can be given to the question, does 
the tapping of trees for turpentine affect the subsequent chemical composition of the heartwood? 

But, however few in number the results are, they admit of the following conclusions: 

(1) Trees that have been tapped can still contain very much turpentine in the heartwood. 

(2) Trees that have been abandoned for only one year before felling can contain fully as much 
turpentine in the heartwood as trees that have been abandoned for five years. 

(3) Trees that have not been tapped at all do not necessarily contain more turpentine in the 
heartwood than trees that have been tapped. 

The following -diagram serves to show what proportion of each disk was involved in each of 
the detail analyses, and the results in each case. The right-hand vertical line represents the pith 
/ of the tree, the horizontal lines represent the radical extension of each disk, as numbered by roman 
number, the position of the disk in the tree being maintained as in nature, IV being the top, II 
the lower, and III the intervening disk. The subdivisions of radii represent the actual divisions 
of the disk to scale of one-half natural size, the portions to the left of the heavy subdivision line 
representing sapwood s 1 and s 2; the portions to the right heartwood /t, /*, divided according to 
the method as indicated above. The four columns of figures over each disk piece represent results 
pertaining to that piece; they stand in order from the top for (1) number of rings, (2) volatile 



344 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

T 
hydrocarbons, (3) rosin, (4) ratio ^j (2) and (3) as calculated on wood free from moisture. For 

instance, for tree No. 53, disk lY, s2, we find — 

40 = Number of rings. 
0.40 = Per cent, of volatile hydrocarbons. 
3. 81 = Per cent of rosin. 
T 



10. 37^^ 



34. 33. 31. 





0.40 






0.46 




4.66 




4 


49 


3 


86 ■ 


2.66 




3.81 






3 


96 




24.01 




22.23 


17 


74 


15.19 


Tree 


1 10. 37 




1 


11 


60 


1 


19.02 


1 


20 


12 


1 21.77 


1 17. 53 


No. 53. 


40. 
0.39 
2.96 
1 33.01 




37. 
0.42 
3.02 

13.82 






35. 
3.87- 
21.77 
17.85 


1 


38. 
3.81 
20.09 
18.94 




1 


30. 

2.10 
11.97 
17.53 




18. 
1.25 
9.71 
1 13. 10 


37. 


40 










33. 




32. 






32. 




28. 


0.18 





19 








2.56 




4.39 






2.22 




1.46 


0.97 





9li 








12. 02 




24.70 






12.30 




8.96 


1 18. 39 


1 19 


77 








21.23 


1 


22.43 




1 


18.29 




1 16. 33 







• 


0.26 




0.34 





15 


0.22 






0.23 




0.26 










1.40 




1.34 


1 


65 


1.97 






1.72 




1.92 




Tree 


:^'o. 52 


40. 


18.78 


1 


25.20 


1 9 


33 


11.11 




1 


13.38 


1 


13.64 




30. 


30. 






30. 




32. 






27. 






11. 


0.25 




0.25 


0.15 






0.20 




0.14 






0.18 






0.18 


1.99 




1.87 


1.77 






1.87 




1.86 






1.60 






1.53 


1 12.71 


1 


13.67 


1 8.64 




1 


10.51 




1 7.65 






9.65 




1 


9.26 


40. 




40. 


36 






32 






35 






24 






0.30 




0.31 





30 







26 







17 







17 




2.19 




2.01 


2 


17 




1.83 




■; 


98 




1 


51 




1 13.64 


1 


15.48 


1 14 


14 




1 14 


38 


1 


8 


83 


1 


11.60 





Tree 
No. 61. 



0.22 


0.28 


3.07 


3.49 


3.14 


1.08 


3.01 


2.75 


13.55 


16.29 


14.18 


8.04 


7.35 


10.20 


1 22. 05 


1 21.42 


1 21. 42 


1 13. 39 


35. 


35. 


36. 


33. 


30. 


35. 


0.20 


0.26 


1.57 


2.09 


2.92 


0.75 


3.01 


3.11 


7.88 


13.57 


11.34 


5.67 


1 6.50 


1 8.36 


1 19. 85 


1 19. 86 


1 25. 81 


1 13.28 





0.16 









24 






II 


84 




0.41 










2.32 






2 


06 






5 


35 




3.13 








1 


7.02 




1 


9 


09 




1 


15 


59 


1 


12.85 




1 




30. 






34. 








HO. 






36. 






36. 


20. 


0.28 






0.35 








0. 5S 






0.40 






0.42 


0.50 


2.05 






2.88 








3.60 






2.99 






2.42 


3.39 


1 10.33 


1 




12.16 






1 


lb. 27 




1 


13.23 


1 




17.04 


1 14. 70 


30. 


35. 










37. 






33 




35. 






27. 


0.29 


0.33 








0.71 









51 


0. 


73 




0.47 


2.26 




63 








5. 03 






2 


71 


0. 


19 




3.62 


1 12. 74 


12. 


56 




1 




14.07 


1 




18 


62 1 


14. 


03 




1 13. 00 









0.22 


0.25 


1.07 


1.06 








1.43 


1.57 


7.61 


6.62 






1 


15. 27 1 


15.97 1 


14. 12 1 


16.04 




30. 


33. 


,30. 


25. 


13. 






0.32 


0.34 


0.94 


0.73 


0.40 






2.25 


2.25 


4.90 


5.12 


3.57 




1 


14.49 1 


13.90 


1 19. 11 


1 14. 21 


1 11. 20 






30. 


35 


35. 


34. 


IS. 






0.20 


17 


0.18 


0.66 


0.37 






1.06 


1.32 


6.57 


3.92 


2.23 


1 




18.55 1 


13.72 1 


17. 97 1 


16.67 


1 16. 50 






30. 


36. 


30. 


30. 








0.31 


0.34 


1.13 


0.87 








2.52 


2.71 


8.10 


6.41 








12.12 


1 12. 36 


1 13.98 


1 13. 53 




30 


36. 


33. 


28. 


17. 







18 


0.24 


1.37 


0.92 


0.86 




1 


95 


2.24 


9.14 


.5.89 


7.40 




1 8.94 


1 10.06 


1 14. 77 


1 15. 61 


1 11. 64 





0.20 0.31 1.55 1.93 1.39 

4.29 3.05 10.10 14.19 8.78 

4.56 I 10.00 I 15.35 | 14. 4 I 15.75 



Fig. 90.— Diagram of detail aualysca, representing radial dimensions of teat pieces in each disk. Scale, one-half natural size. 



DISTRIBUTION OP RESINOUS CONTENTS. 



345 



TABLE I.— TREE No. 53. 

















Calculated on wood free 


















from moisture. 






Part of 
disk. 


Number of 
riugs. 


"Width. 


Water. 


Volatile 
kydro- 
carbon. 


Roain. 




VoLhydroc, 






Jfo.ofai.sk. 


Volatile 
hydro- 


Rosin. 


Eosin. - "" 
















carbon. 
















Per cent. 


Per cent. 


Per cent. 


Per cent. 










3.3 


10.51 


0.16 


0.87 


0.18 


0.97 










4 


10.05 


0.17 


0.86 


0.19 














9.11 


2.32 


10.93 


2.56 


12.02 






2A 


32 


2.9 


8.79 
8.47 


4.00 
2.03 


17.83 
11.26 


4.39 
2.22 


24.70 
12.30 






18.29 








10.0 


*11. 23 


1.30 


7.96 


1.46 


8.96 










2.7 


9.08 


0.35 


2.69 


0.39 












2.6 


8.90 


0.38 


2.75 


0.42 


3.02 










3.5 


7.89 


3.57 


20.05 


3.87 






ni < 






4.1 


8.04 


3.50 


18.48 


3.81 


20.09 








30 


5.5 


8.55 


1.92 


10.95 


2.10 












7.0 


8.79 


1.14 


8.86 


1.25 














8.96 


0.36 


3,47 


0.40 


3.81 










3.0 


8.67 


0.42 


3.62 


0.46 


3.96 


11.60 








3.9 


8.04 


4.20 


22.08 


4.56 


24.01 






2h 


33 


3.0 
5.8 


7.93 
8.65 


4.13 
3.53 












16.21 


3.86 


17.74 


21.77 




ih 


15 


5.3 


9.55 


2.41 


13.74 


2.66 


15.19 






- , 


,, 


, ,. 




ininiTio. nart 








of moisture. 



Table II.— TREE No. 52. 







40 


3.1 


9.72 


0.27 


1.98 


0.30 


2.19 


13.64 








3.9 


9.77 


0.28 


1.81 


0.31 










36 


4.6 


8.67 


0.28 


1.98 


0.30 


2.17 






2A 


32 


3.0 
6.8 


8.44 
8.80 


0.24 
0.16 













1.81 


0.17 


1.98 


8.83 


{ 


4/i 


24 


7.4 


8.55 


0.16 


1.38 


0.17 


1.51 










3.0 


9.12 


0.23 


1.81 


0.25 










40 


3.5 


9.00 


0.23 


1.68 


0.25 












3.4 


8.44 


0.14 


1.62 


0.15 






in 


2A 
3ft 


30 
32 


3.0 
4.8 


8.51 
8.37 


0.18 
0.13 


1,71 
1.70 


0.20 
0.14 


1.89 
1.86 


10.51 
7.65 










6.9 


9.35 


0.14 


1.45 


0.15 












15.0 


9.21 


0.13 


1.39 


0.14 


1.53 




J 






3.5 


8.88 


0.24 


1.28 


0.26 












3.3 


8.49 


0.31 


1.23 


0.34 


1.34 


25.20 




lA 


32 


3.0 


9.08 


0.14 


1.50 


0.15 


1.65 






2ft 


34 

30 


2.8 
3.6 


8.86 
8.48 


0.20 
0.21 










' 


1.57 


0.23 


1.72 


13.38 




4ft 


30 


6.8 


8.10 


0.24 


1.76 


0.26 


1.92 





Table III.— TREE No. 61. 





Is 


35 


3 




2* 


35 


3 


J 


lA 


36 


2 




2ft 
3ft 


33 
30 






4 




4ft 


35 


9 


r 


1» 


30 


a 


1 


2« 


36 


2 




1ft 


40 


3 




2ft 


33 










3ft 


35 


G 


^ 


4ft 


30 


8 



3.0 


7.94 


0.18 


2.77 


0.20 


3.01 


6.50 




7.90 


0.24 


2.87 


0.26 


3.11 


8.36 


2.8 


7.35 


1.45 


7.30 


1.57 


7.88 


19.85 


3.2 


7.58 


2.49 


12.54 


2.69 


13.57 


19.86 


4.5 


7.64 


2.70 


10.46 


2.92 


11.34 




9.5 


7.10 


0.70 


5.27 


0.76 


6.67 


13.28 


3.0 


7.65 


0.20 


2.78 


0.22 


3.01 


7.35 


2.7 


7.43 


0.26 


2.55 


0.28 


2.75 




3.1 


7.14 


2.85 


12.58 


3.07 


13.55 


22.65 


3.2 


7.46 


3.23 


15.08 


3.49 


16.29 




G.O 


7.41 


2.91 


13.59 


3.14 


14.18 


21.42 


8.0 


7.09 


1.00 


7.47 


1.08 


8.04 


13.39 



Table IV.— TREE No. 60. 







30 


•> 7 


9.91 


0.26 


2.04 


0.29 


2.26 


12.74 








2.8 


9.34 


0.30 


2.39 


0.33 


2.63 








37 


3.5 


8.72 


0.65 


4.62 


0.71 


5.03 


14.07 




2ft 


33 
35 


4.5 
4.6 


9.15 
8.01 


0.46 
0.67 












4.71 


0.73 


5.19 


14.02 


( 


4ft 


27 


6.5 


8.45 


0.43 


3.31 


0.47 


3.62 


13.00 






30 


3.1 


8.74 


0.25 


2.42 


0.28 


2.65 








34 


2.8 


8.60 


0.32 


2.63 


0.35 


2.88 


12.16 




1ft 


30 


3.2 


8.68 


0.53 


3.47 


0.58 


3.80 


15.27 




2ft 
3ft 


36 
36 


4.4 

4.5 


9.02 
7.73 














0.38 


2.23 


0.42 


2.42 


17.04 




4A 


20 


6.0 


7.73 


0,46 


3.13 


0.50 


3.39 




: 




30 


2.6 


7.51 


0.15 


2.15 


0.16 


2.32 






2s 


27 


2.6 


7.84 


0.22 


2.45 


0.24 


2.66 


9.09 




1ft 
2ft 


28 
36 


3.7 
5.0 


7.77 
8.12 


0.77 
0.37 


4.94 

2.88 


0.84 
0.41 


5.35 
3.13 








^ 


3ft 


40 


8.0 


7.92 


0.26 


2.81 


0.28 


3.05 


9.18 



346 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Table V.— TREE No. 1. 

















Calculated on -woed free 
























Part of 
• disk. 


Number ef 
rings. 


Width. 


Water. 


Volatile 
hydro- 
carbon. 


Eosin. 




Vol.hydro^o. 
Eosin. ^™ 


• No. of disk. 


Volatile 
hydro- 


Ko.9in. 
















carbon. 












Cm. 


Per cent. 


I'er cent. 


Per cent. 


Per cent. 


Per cent. 






Is 


30 


2.0 


8. 67 


0.18 


0.97 


0.20 


1.06 


18.55 




2» 


35 


3.0 


8.77 


O.IU 


1.21 


0.17 


1.32 


13.72 




2A 


35 
34 


3.6 
6.5 


8.56 
8.30 


1.08 
0.60 


6.01 
3.00 


1.18 
0.66 


0.57 
3.92 






16.67 


[ 


3li 


14 


3.0 


7.67 


0.34 


2.06 


0.37 


2.23 


16.50 


f 


U 


30 


2.8 


7.94 


0.30 


2.07 


0.32 


2. 25 


14.49 




2s 


33 


3.0 


7.92 


0.31 


2. 23 


0.34 


2.42 


13.90 


III I 


lA 


30 


3.8 


8.13 


0.86 


4.50 


0.94 


4.90 


19.11 


1 


2A 


25 


4.2 


7.78 


0.67 


4.72 


0.73 


5.12 


14.21 


( 


3/1 


1,5 


3.5 


7.57 


0.37 


3.30 


0.40 


3. .57 


11.22 


( 


Is 


30 


2.2 


8.33 


0.20 


1.31 


0.22 


1.43 


15.27 




2s 


28 


2.8 


8.12 


0.23 


1.4-! 


0.25 


1. .-i7 


15.97 


l/i 


32 


5. 


7.94 


0.99 


7.01 


1.07 


7.61 


14.12 


I 


•111 


19 


5.2 


7.73 


0.98 


6.11 


1.06 


6.62 


16.04 



Table VI.— TEEE Ni 





u 


30 


3.0 


7.65 


0.18 


3.95 


0.20 


4.29 


4.56 




2s 


20 


2.7 


8.19 


0.38 


2.80 


0.31 


3.05 


10.00 


" 


Vi 


34 


3.6 


7.-31 


1.44 


9.25 


1.55 


10.10 


15.35 


2h 


30 


,5.0 


8.11 


1.77 


13. 0.-. 


1.93 


14. 19 


14.41 




ill 


30 


6.0 


8.16 


1.27 


8. 06 


1.39 


8.78 


15.75 


1 


ih 


11 


4.2 


7.88 


1.07 


8.24 


1.10 


8.94 


12.99 


1 


Is 


30 


2.7 


8.00 


0.16 


1.79 


0.18 


1.95 


8.94 




2s 


36 


3.0 


8.01 


0.22 


2.00 


0.24 


2.24 


10.06 


III \ 


l/i 


33 


3.2 


7.44 


1.25 


8.40 


1.37 


9.14 


14.77 




27i 


28 


5.5 


7.78 


0.85 


5.44 


0.92 


5.89 


15.61 


1 


3A 


17 


4.8 


7.12 


0.80 


6.87 


0.86 


7.40 


11.64 


1 


Is 


30 


2.7 


8.20 


0.28 


2.31 


0.31 


2. 52 


12.12 




''s 


36 


3.0 


8.08 


0.31 


2.49 


0.34 


2.71 


12. .36 


111 


30 


3.6 


8.10 


1.04 


7.44 


1.13 


8.10 


13.98 


I 


ih 


30 


7.6 


7.81 


O.RO 


5.91 


0.87 


6.41 


13.53 



Table VII — Sumalary of Results of Tree.s No.s. 54 to 69 and Nos. 17 to 19. 



Serial number of trees. 



54,55,56,57 1 

58,59 .*- / 

63.64,65 1 

66.67,08,69 { 

17, 18, 19 i 



l''\ 



jn 



Per cent. 
1.48 

6.781^ 88 
4.97r"° 
1.76 
4.06 
1.74 

4.351- o, 
6. 29J ''■ ■'- 
1.78 
4.95 
1.49 

I ?-15|2.98 
I 2.4iJ 



• "Us. 



;.55\,„ 



0.8n„ 
0. 34/" 
0.20 
0.82 



Per cent. 
1.93 
^•«2k89 



13.33 
10.821,, ,,, 

ii.27;""-' 

14 14 
19. 10 



0.11 I 1.34 

0. 91\„ _, /I 3. 03\„ , 
0.5or-" \i2.79r-- 



8.20 
25. 151 , 
18.36J- 



TiMBEE Physics Work. 

The timber pliysics work was coutiuued actively and tlie investigation extended to other kinds 
of timber, both conifers and hard woods. In 1S90 the Division was in position to announce its 
findings with regard to the mechanical, physical, and structural study of the four principal Southern 
pines (Circular 12). Based, as these results are, on over 20,000 mechanical tests and over 50,000 
weighings and measurements, they may fairly be regarded as final, and thus avoid future discus- 
sion and much fruitless and expensive i^rivate testing. According to this exhaustive study, the 
Cuban and long-leaf pine rank foremost among our timber pines, and are fully 20 to 25 per cent 
stronger than had previously been assumed. It also appeared that the wood of these species 
varies in strength directly as the weight (little discrepancies being well accounted for by varia- 
tions in resin contents, which add only to weight and not to strength) ; that in the same tree the 
wood varies according to certain definite laws, being heaviest at butt, lightest in top, heavier in 
the interior, and lighter and weaker in the outer parts of saw-size timber; that thus the age when 
formed, as well as the position in the tree, exercises a definite influence which is generally far 
greater than the much-quoted influences of soil, locality, etc. In this latter respect it was clear 



TIMBER PHYSICS SOUTHERN PINE. 347 

from the results that the oft-claimed superiority of the timber of certain localities is not 
substantiated by experiment, but that there is heavy and strong as well as lighter and weaker 
timber in every locality throughout the range of these species. The all-important effect of 
moisture was carefully considered throughout the work, and it was established that in general 
an increase in strength of at least 50 to 73 per cent takes place during ordinary seasoning, so that 
for all designing of covered work, as in ordinary architecture, this improvement may be depended 
upon and considered in the proportioning of the timbers. 

The manner in whicli the valuable information was secured and communicated will appear 
from the following reprint of Circulars 12 and 15, issued in 1896 and 1897: 

Southern Pine — Mechanical and Physical Pkoperties. 

THE material UNDER CONSIDERATION. 

The importance of reliable informatiou regarding tlie pines of tlie South is evident from the fact that they furnish 
the bulk of the hard-pine material used for constructive purposes with an annual cut hardly short of 7,000,000,000 
feet B. M., which, with the decline of the soft-pine supplies in the North, is bound to increase rapidly. 

Although covering the largest area of coniferous growth in the country (about 230,000 square miles), proper 
economies in their use are nevertheless most needful, since much of this area is already severely culled and the out 
per acre has never been very large. Hence the demonstration (a result of the investigations in this Division) that 
bled pine is as strong and useful as unbled, and the assurance that long-leaf pine is in the average 25 per cent 
stronger than it is often supposed to be, and therefore can be used in smaller sizes than customary at present, must 
be welcome as permitting a saving in forest resources which may readily be estimated at from eight to ten million 
dollars annually, due to this information. 

The pines under consideration, often but imperfectly distinguished by consumers in name of substance, are: 

(1) The long-leaf pine {I'lniis jialnstris), also known as Georgia or yellow pine, and in England as "pitch 
pine," and by a number of other names, is to be found in a belt of 100 to 150 miles in width along the Atlantic and 
Gulf coasts from North Carolina to Texas, furnishing over 50 per ceut of the pine timber cut in the South — the 
timber par excellence for heavy construction, but also useful for flooring .and in other directions where strength and 
wearing qualities are required. 

(2) The Cuban pine (Piiiiis IteteroplnjUa), found especially in the southern portions of the long-leaf jiine belt, 
known to woodsmen commonly as "slash pine," but not distinguished in the lumber m.arket. It is usually mixed in 
with long leaf, which it closely resembles, although it is wider ringed (coarse grained), and to which it is equal if 
not superior in weight and strength. 

(3) The short-leaf pine (Pinus echinata), also Iruown, besides many other names, as yellow pine and as North 
Carolina pine, but growing through all the Southern States generally north of the long-leaf pine region; much 
softer and with much more sapwood than the former two, useful mainly f«jr small dimensions .and .as Hnishing wood, 
being about 20 per cent weaker than the long-leaf pine. 

(4) The loblolly or old-field pine (Pinus taida), of similar although more Southern range than the short leaf, also 
known as Virginia jiiue, much used locally and in Washington and Baltimore, destined to iind more extensive 
application. At present largely cut together with short leaf and sold with it as "yellow pine," or North Carolina 
pine, without distinction, although sometimes far superior, approaching long-leaf pine in strength and general 
qualities. 

The names in the market are often used interchangeably and the materials in the yard mixed. All four species 
grow into tall but slender trunks, as a rule not exceeding 30 inches in diameter and 100 feet in height; the bulk of 
the logs cut at present fall below 20 inches. The sapwood forms in old trees of long leaf (with 2 to 4 inches) about 
40 per cent of the total log volume ; in Cub.an, short leaf, and loblolly CO per cent and over. 

A reliable microscopic distinction of the wood of the four species lias not yet been found. As a rule long leaf 
contains much less sapwood than the other three. The narrow-ringed wood of long leaf (averaging 20 to 25 rings 
to the inch) usually separates it also from the other three, while the especially broad-ringed Cuban excels usually 
also by broader summer- wood bands. In the log short leaf and loblolly may usually be recognized as distinguished 
from the former by the greater proportion of sapwood and lighter color due to smaller proportion of summer wood. 
The general appearance of the wood of all four species is, however, quite similar. The annual rings (grain) are 
sharply defined; the light yellowish spring wood and the dark orange-brown summer wood of each ring being 
strongly contrasted produce a pronounced pattern, which, although pleasing, especially in the curly forms (which 
occur occasionally;, may become obtrusive when massed. 



348 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



The following diagnosis may prove helpful in the distinction of the wood : 
Diagnostic features of the wood. 



Name of speciea. 



Specific gravity of kiln* /Possible range 

dried wood. \Mo8t frequent range 

Weight, pounds per cubic foot, kiln-dried 

wood. (Average) ._ 

Character of grain eeeu iu cross section 



Color, general appearance 

Sapwood, proportion 

Kesin 



Long-leaf pine (Pinus 
palustris Miller). 



. 50 to . 90 
. 55 to . 65 

36 
Fine and even; annual 



formly narrow; on 
large logs averag- 
ing generally 20 to 
25 rings to the inch. 



Even dark reddish 
yellow to reddish 
brown. . 

Little; rarely over 2 to 
3 inches of radius. 

Very abundant; parts 
often turning into 
"light wood;" 
pitchy throughout. 



Cuban pine {Pinus 
heterophylla (Ell) Sud) 



37 

Variable and coarse, 
rings mostly wide ; 
averaging on large 
logs 10 to 20 rings to 
the inch. 



Dark straw color with 
tinge of tiesh color. 

Broad ; 3 to 6 inches . . 

Abundant, sometimes 
yielding more pitch 
than long leaf; 
"bleeds" freely, 
yielding little 
scrape. 



30 

Very variable ; me- 
dium, coarse; rings 
wide near heart, fol- 
lowed by zone of 
narrow rings; not 
less than 4 (mostly 
about 10 to 15) rings 
to the inch, but 
often very fine 
grained. 

Whitish to reddish or 
yellowish brown. 

Commonly over 4 
inches of radius. 

Moderately abundant, 
least pitchy ; only 
near stumps, knots, 
and limbs. 



Loblolly pine (Pinus 
tcedalAuu.) . 



31 
Variable, mostly very 
coarse; 3 to 12 rings 
to the inch, gener- 
ally wider than in 
the short leaf. 



Very variable, 3 to 6 
inches of the radius. 

Abundant; more than 
short leaf, less than 
long leaf and Cuban, 
but does not ' ' bleed " 
if tapped. 



The sapling timher of all four species is coarse grained, that of lohlolly exceeding the rest in this respect. 
The grain varies most in the hutt, least in the top, is vei'y fine in the outer portions of all old trees. Loblolly in the 
center of the log frequently shows rings over oue-half inch wide, and timber averaging eight rings to the inch is 
not rare, while short leaf will average 10 to 15 rings to the inch. The greater or less proportion of the sharply 
defined dark-colored bands of summer wood of the ring furnish the most reliable and ready means of determining 
q^uality. 

At present distinction is but rarely made in the species and in their use. All four species are used much alike, 
although differentiation is very desirable on account of the difference in quality. Formerly these pines, except for 
local use, were mostly cut or hewn into timbers, but especially since the use of dry kilns has become general and 
the simple oil finish has displaced the unsightly painting and "graining" of wood Southern pine is cut into every 
form and grade of lumber. Nevertheless, a large proportion of the total cut is still being sawed to order in sizes 
above 6 by 6 inches, and lengths above 20 feet for timbers, for which the long leaf and Cuban furnish ideal material. 
The resinous condition of these two pines make them also desirable for railway ties of lastiug quality. 

MKCHANICAL PKOPERTIKS. 

In general the wood of all these pines is heavy for pine (31 to 40 x>ouuds per cubic foot, when dry); soft to 
moderately hard (hai*d for pine), requiring about 1,000 pounds per square inch to indent one-twentieth inch; stiff, 
the modulus of elasticity being from 1,500,000 upward; strong, requiring from 7,000 pounds per square inch and 
upward to break iu bending, and over 5,000 pounds in compression when yard-dry. 

The values given in this circular are averages based on a large number of tests, from which only defective 
pieces are excluded. 

In all cases where the contrary is not stated the weight of the wood refers to kiln-dried material and the 
strength of wood containing 15 per cent moisture, which may be conceived as just on the border of air-dried 
condition. The first table gives fairly well the range of strength of commercial timher. 

Average strength oj Southern pine. 
Air-dry material (about 15 per cent moisture). 



Cuban pine ... 
Longleafpine. 
Loblolly pine . 

Shortleaf pine 



Compression strength. 



Average 
of all valid 

tests. 



Lbs. per 
sq. inch. 
7,850 
6.85C 
6,500 
5,90U 



Average 
for the weakest! 

one- tenth 
of all the tests 



iRela 
tive. 



Lbs. per 

sq. inch. 

6,500 

5,650 

5,350 



grain. 

I per cent 

indenta 

tion. 



Lbs. per 

sq. inch. 

1,050 



Bending strengtli. 



Average 
of all vSid 

teats. 



for the weakest 

one- tenth 
of all the teats 



Lbs. per 
sq. inch. 
U. 950 
10, 900 
10, 100 
9,230 



Lbs. per 

sq. inch. 

8,750 



At elastic 

limit 
modulus 

3 Wji 

2 bKi 



Lbs. per 

sq. inch. 

9, 450 



Lbs. per 
sq. inch. 
2,305,000 
1, 890, 000 
1, 950, 000 
1, 600, 000 



Relative 
elastic 
resili- 
ence. 



Tensile Shearing 
strength, strength. 



Lbs. per 
sq. inch. 

14, 300 

15, 200 
14, 400 
13,400 



Lbs. per 

sq. inch. 



TIMBER PHYSICS — SOUTHERN PINE. 

KELATION OF STRENGTH TO WEIGHT. 



349 



The intimate relation of strength and specific weight has been well established by the experiments. The aver- 
> results obtained in connection with the tests themselves were as follows : 



Transverse strength 

Specific "weight of teat pleces- 



Siuce in the determination of the specific gravity above given, wood of the same per cent of moisture (as is the 
case of the values of strength) was not always involved, and also since the test pieces, owing to size and shape, can 
not perfectly represent the wood of the entire stem, the following results of a special inquiry into the weight of the 
wood represents probably more .iccurately the weight and with it the strength-relations of the four species. 



[These data refer to the ; 



WEIGHT KELATIONS. 
^lit for all the wood of each tree, only trees of approximately the ! 



i age heing involved.] 



Number of trees involved... 
Specific gravity of dry wood 

Weight per cubic foot 

Relative weight 

(Transverse strength a) 



Cuban. Longleaf. Loblolly. Shortleaf. 



a The values of strength refer to all tests and therefore involve trees of wide r.ange of age and consequently of quality, especially 
those of longleaf, involve much wood of old trees, hence the relation of weight and strength appears less distinct. 

From these results, although slightly at variance, we are justified in concluding that Cuban and longleaf pine 
are nearly alike in strength and weight and excel loblolly and shortleaf by about 20 per cent. Of these latter, 
contrary to common belief, the loblolly is the heavier and stronger. 

The weakest material would differ from the average material in transverse strength by about 20 per cent and 
in compression strength by about 30 to 35 per cent, except Cuban pine, for which the difference appears greater 
in transverse and smaller in compression strength. It must, of course, not be overlooked that these figures are 
obtained from full-grown trees of the virgin forest, that strength varies with physical conditions of the material 
and that, therefore, an intelligent inspection of the stick is always necessary before applying the values in practice. 
They can only represent the average conditions for a large amount of material. 

DISTRIBUTION OF WEIGHT AND STRENGTH THROUGHOUT THE TREE. 

In any one tree the wood is lighter and weaker as we pass from the base to the top. This is true of every tree 
and of all four species. The decrease in weight and strength is most pronounced in the first 20 feet from the stump 
and grows smaller upward. (Sec fig. 91.) 

This great difference in weight and strength between butt and top finds explanation in the relative width of 
the summerwood. Since the specific weight of the dark summerwood band in each ring is in thrifty growth from 
.90 to 1.00, while that of the springwood is only about .40, the relative amount of summerwood furnishes altogether 
the most delicate and accur.ate measure of these differences of weight as well as strength, and hence is the surest 
criterion for ocular inspection of r[uality, especially since this relation is free from the disturbing infllnence of both 
resin and moisture contents of the wood, so conspicuous in weight determinations. 

The following figures show the distribution of the summerwood in a single tree of longleaf pine, as an example 
of this relation : 



In the 10 
rings next 
to the bark 



In the 10 
rings, Nos. 

100 to 110 
from bark. 



Average 



Specific 
weight. 



At the stump 

32 feet from stump 
87 feet from stump 



350 



FOKESTKY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPAKTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 



Weiyht and strength of wood at different heights in the trt 





Strength of longleaf 
pine (p(utnd3 per 
square inch). 


Specific weight. 


Mean of 
all three 
species. 
Eelative 
weight. 


Eelative 
strength of 

lougleaf 
pine. 
Mean of com- 
pression and 

bending. 


Bending 
strength. 


Compres- 
sion end- 
wise 
(with 
grain). 


Lougleaf. 


Loblollj'. 


Sliortleaf. 




56 
150 (over) 


22 
127 


14 
113 


12 
131 


48 


56 






1 


Number of feet from stump : 






.751 
101! 
.705 
100 
.674 

9« 
.624 

SO 
.500 

Si 
.560 

SO 
.539 

77 
.528 

76 


.629 
106 
.595 
100 
.578 

97 
.534 

90 
.508 

S6 
.491 

S3 
.476 

SO 
.470 

79 


.614 
lOS 
.585 
100 
.565 

97 
.523 

90 
.496 

86 
.472 

81 
.455 

78 
.454 

78 


100 
100 
97 
90 
S5 
SI 
78 
77 






12, 100 

100 

11, 650 

S6 

10, 700 

S8 

10, 100 

Si 

9,500 

79 

9,000 

75 

8,600 

71 


7,350 

100 

7,200 

9S 
6,800 

93 
6,600 

S9 
6,300 

S6 
6,150 

SS 
6,050 

S3 


100 
97 
00 
S6 
83 
79 
76 


















49.6 



43.4 



37.1 



31.0 « 



24.8 



20 30 40 

Feet from Stump. 

Fig. 91. — Variation of weight with height of tree. 



TIMBER PHYSICS SOUTHERN PINE. 



351 



Logs from the top can usually be recognized by tlie larger percentage of sapyrood and the smaller proportion 
and more regular outlines of the bands of summer ■n'ood, which are more or less wavy in the butt logs. 

The variation of weight is well illustrated in the foregoing table, in which the relative values are indicated in 
italics. For comjiarison the figures for strength of long-loaf 
pine are added. 

Both weight and strength vary in -the different parts of 
the same cross section from center to perijihery, and though 
the variations appear frequently irregular in single individuals, 
a definite law of relation is nevertheless discernible in large 
averages, and once determined is readily observable in every 
tree. 

A separate inquiry, avoiding the many varialiles which 
enter in the mechanical tests, permits the following deduc- 
tions for the wood of these pines, and especially ibr long 
leaf, the data referring to weight, but by inference also to 
strength : 

1. The variation is greatest in the butt log (the heaviest 
part) and least in the top logs. 

2. The variation in weight, hence also iu strength, from 
center to periphery depends on the rate of growth, tlie heavier, 
stronger wood being formed during the period of most rapid 
growth, lighter and weaker wood in old age. 

3. Aberrations from the normal growth, duo to unusual 
seasons and other disturbing causes, cloud the uniformity of the 
law of variation, thus oc'casionally leading to the formation of 
heavier, broad-ringed wood in old, and lighter, narrow-ringed 
wood in young trees. 

4. Slow-growing t];ees (with narrow rings) do not make 
less heavy, nor heavier, wood than thriftily grown trees (with 
wide rings) of the same age. (See fig. 92.) 

EI'-FBCT OF .\GK. 

The interior of the butt log, reitresenting the young sap- 
ling of less than 15 or 20 years of age, and the central portion 
of all logs containing the pith and 2 to 5 rings adjoining is 
always light and weak. 

The heaviest wood in long-leaf and Cuban pine is formed 
between the ages of 15 and 120 years, with a specific weight of 
over O.GO and a maximum of 0.66 to 0.68 between the ages of 40 
and 60 years. The wood formed at the age of about 100 years 
will have a specific weight of 0.62 to 0.63, which is also the 
average weight for the entire wood of old trees. The wood 
formed after this age is lighter, but does not fall below 0.50 
up to the two hundredth year; the strength varies in the same 
ratio. 

In the shorter-lived loblolly and short leaf the period for 
the formation of the lieaviest wood is between tlie ages of 
15 and 80, the average weight being then over 0.50, with a 
maximum of 0.57 at tlie age of 30 to 40. The average weight 
for old trees (0.51 to 0.52) lies about the seventy-fifth year, 
the weight then falling olf to about 0.45 at the age of 140, 
and continuing to decrease to below 0.38 as the trees grow 
older. 

That these statements refer only to the clear portions of 
each log, and are variably aff'ectcd at each whorl of knots (every 
10 to 30 inches) according to their size, and also by the variable 
amounts of resin (up to 20 per cent of the dry weight), must 
be self-evident. 

Sapwood is not necessarily weaker than heartwood, only 
usually the sapwood of the large-sized trees we are now using 
is represented by the narrow-ringed outer part, which was 
formed during the old-age period of growth, when naturally 

lighter and weaker wood is made; but the wood formed during the more thrifty diameter growth of the first 
eighty or one hundred years — sapwood at the time, changed into heartwood later— was, even as sapwood, the 
heaviest and strongest. 




200 '20 eo so C EO 6ff JBO SOO 

SCALE VEffr/CAl ^ M.= /Er. 

w/f/zo/vrAi '/sw ■=///!/. 

Fig. 92. — Schematic section through atom of long-leaf pine, 
sbowiug variation of specific weight, with height, diame- 
ter, and age, at 20 {.aba), CO (dcd), 120 (race), 20O (////) 
years. 



352 



FOEESTEY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPAETMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 



KANGE OF A'ALUES FOR WEIGHT AND STRENGTH. 

Although the range of values for the iudlvidual tree of any given species varies from butt to top and from 
center to periphery by 15 to 25 per cent and occasionally more, the deviation from average values from one individual 
to another is not usually as great as has been believed ; thus of 56 trees of long-leaf pine, 42 trees varied in their 
average strength by less than 10 per cent from the average of all 56. 

The following table of weight (which is a direct and fair indication of strength), representing all the wood of 
the stem and excluding knots and other defects, gives a more perfect idea of the range of these values : 

Sange of specific weight with age {kiln-dried ivood). 
[To avoid fractions the values are multiplied by 100.] 



Number of trees involved . 
Trees over 200 years old . . . 

Trees 160-200 years old 

Trees 100-150 years old 

Trees 50-100 years old 

Trees 25-50 years old 

Trees under 25 years old- . . 



Cuban. Longleaf' Loblolly. '^""f 



Though occasionally some very exceptional trees occur, especially in loblolly and short leaf, the range on the 
whole is generally within remarkably narrow limits, as appears from the following table : 

Range of specific weight in trees of the same age approximately; averages for whole trees, 
{Specific gravity multiplied by 100 to avoid fractions.] 



Name. 


No. of 
trees. 


Age 
(years). 


Single trees. 


Average. 


Cuban 


{ t 

13 

10 
12 


150-200 
50-100 
100-150 
125-150 
100-150 




62.5 
60.9 
60.5 
52.8 
50.8 




Long-leaf pine 

Loblolly pine 

Sliort-leaf pine 


59 66 57 62 66 .IS 59 57 57 66 59 62 57 

51 51 53 51 55 53 54 55 55 52 

45 47 53 47 50 51 55 55 63 51 50 53 .. 



From this table it would appear that single individuals of one species would approximate single individuals of 
another species so closely that the weight distinction seems to fail, but iu large numbers — for instance, carloads of 
material — the averages above given will prevail. 



INFLUENCE OF LOCALITY. 

In both the Cuban and long-leaf pine the locality where grown appears to have but little influence on weight 
or 8tren"th, and there is no reason to believe that the long-leaf pine from one State is better than that from any 
other, since such variations as are claimed can be found on any 40-acre lot of timber in any State. But with loblolly, 
and still more with short leaf, this seems not to be the case. Being widely distributed over many localities different 
in soil and climate, the growth of the short-leaf pine seems materially influenced by location. The wood from the 
Southern coast and Gulf region, and even Arkansas, is generally heavier than the wood from localities farther north. 
Very lii'ht and fine-grained wood is seldom met near the southern limit of the range, while it is almost the rule in 
Missouri, where forms resembling the Norway pine are by no means rare. The loblolly, occupying both wet and 
dry soils, varies accordingly. 

INFLUENCE OF MOISTURE. 

This influence is among the most important; hence all tests have been made with due regard to moisture 
contents. Seasoned wood is stronger than green and moist wood. The difference between green and seasoned wood 
may amount to 50 and even 100 per cent. The influence of seasoning consists in (1) bringing by means of shrinkage 
about 10 per cent more fibers into the same square inch of cross section than are contained iu the wet wood; (2) 
shrinking the cell wall itself by about 50 per cent of its cross section, and thus hardening it, just as the cow skin 
becomes thinner and harder by drying. 

In the following tables and diagram this is fully illustrated. The values presented in these tables and 
diagrams are based on large numbers of tests and are fairly safe for ordinary use. They still reriuire further 
revision, since the relations to density, etc., have had to be neglected iu this study. 



TIMBER PHYSICS-^SOUTHERK PINE. 



353 



Influence of moisture on slreiigth. 



) of 111! valUl tests. 



Beudiug strength . 



Crushing endwise 



Per cent 
of moist- 
ure. a 



7,660 
8,900 
10, 900 
14, 000 
4,450 
6,450 
(1, 850 
9,200 



7,370 
8,650 
10, 100 
13, 400 
4,170 
5, 350 
6,500 
8,650 



6,000 
8,170 
9,230 
11, 000 
4,160 
5,100 
5,900 
7,000 



Relative values. 



Bending strength 

Ciusliing endwise 

Mean of hoth bending and 
crushing strength 



Lob- 


Short- 


lolly. 


leaf. 


100 


100 


117 


118 


138 


134 


168 


160 


100 


100 


128 


122 


156 


142 


206 


168 


100 


100 


122 


120 


1 147 


138 


1 187 

1 


164 



33 per cant green, 20 per cent lialf dry, 15 per cent yard dry, 10 per cent room dry. 




It will be observed that the strengtli iucrca.ses by about 50 per cent in ordinary good yard seasoning, and that 
it can be increased by about 30 per cent more by complete seasoning in kiln or house. 

Large timbers require several years before even the yard-season condition is attained, but 2-inch and lighter 
material is generally not used with more than 15 per cent moisture. 



WKKMIT AND MOISTUKE. 



So far the weight of only the kiln-dry wood has been considered. In fresh as well as all yard and air-dried 
material there is contained a variable amount of water. The amount of water contained in fresh wood of these 
pines forms more than half the weight of the fresh sapwood, and about one-fifth to one-fourth of the heartwood ; in 
yard-dry wood it falls to about 12 to 18 per cent, while in wood kept in well-ventilated and especially in heated 
rooms it is about 5 to 10 per cent, varying with size of piece, part of tree, species, temperature, and humidity of air. 
Heated to 150° F. (65^ C.) the wood loses all but about 1* to 2 per ceut of its moisture, and if the temperature is 
raised to 175° F. there remains less than 1 per cent, the wood dried at 212° F. being assumed to be (though it is not 
really) perfectly dry. Of course large pieces are in practice never left long enough exposed to become truly kiln-dry, 
though in factories this state is often approached. 

As long as the water in the wood amounts to about 30 per cent or more of the dry weight of the wood there is 
no shrinkage' (the water coming from the cell lumen) and the density or specific gravity changes simply in direct 



' In ordinary lumber and all large size material the exterior parts commonly dry so much sooner than the bulk 
of the stick that checking often occurs, though the moisture per cent of the whole stick is still far above 30. 
H. Doc. 181 23 



354 



FOKESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



proportion to the loss of water. When the moisture per cent falls below ahout 30 the water comes from the cell wail, 
and the loss of\Water and weight is accompanied by a loss of volume, so that both factors of the fraction 



Specific gravity ; 



weight 
volume 



are affected .and the ch.vuge in the specific gravity no longer is simply proportional to the loss of water or weight. 
The loss of weight and volume, however, being une<iual and disproportionate, a marked reduction of the speciBc 
gravity takes place, amounting in these pines to about 8 to 10 per cent of the specific weight of the dry wood. 

BHKINKAGE. 

The behavior of the wood of the southern pines in shrinkage does not differ materially. Generally the heavier 
wood shrinks the most, and sapwood shrinks about one-fourth more than heartwood of the same specific weight. 
Very resinous pieces ("light wood") shrink much less th.an other wood. In keeping with these general facts, the 
shrinkage of the wood of the upper logs is usually 1.5 to 20 per cent less than that of the butt pieces, and the 
shrinkage of the heavy heartwood of old trees is greater than that of the lighter i>eripheral parts of the same, while 
the shrinkage of the heavy wood of saplings is greatest of all. On the whole, the wood of these pines shrinks 
about 10 per cent in its volume, 3 to 4 per cent along the radius, and 6 to 7 per cent along the tangent or along the 
yearly rings. 

After leaving the kiln tlie wood at once begins to alisorb moisture and to swell. In an experiment with short 
pieces of loblolly and shortleaf, representing ordinary flooring or siding sizes, these regained more than half the 
water and underwent more than half the total swelling during the first 10 days after leaving the kiln (see fig. 94). 
Even in this less than air-dry wood the changes in weight far (ixcel the changes in volume (sum of radial and 
tangential swelling), and therefore the specific gravity, (^ven at this low per cent of moisture, was decreased by 
drying and increased by subsequent absorption of moisture. Immersion and, still more readily, boiling, cause the 
wood to return to its original size, but temperatures even above the boiling point do not prevent the wood from 
" working," or shrinking, and swelling. 




94.— Loss of wiiter in kiln dryins and reulisorptii 



In fig. 94 are represented the results of experiments on the rate of loss of water in the dry kiln and the roab- 
sorption of water in the air. The wood used was of loblolly and shortleaf pine kept on a shelf in an ordinary room 
before and after kiln-drying. The measurements were made with caliper. 



KFFECT OF KILN-DRYING. 



Although kiln-drying has become quite universal, opinions arc still divided as to its eff'ects upon the strength 
of the nuiterial and other qualities. Many objections and claims as to physical and chemical changes produced by 
the treatment remain unsubstantiated. The method most widely used and most severely criticised is that of the 
"blower" kiln, where hot air (180= F.) is forced into the drying room by means of powerful fans. Besides the 



TIMBER PHYSICS SOUTHERN PINE. 



355 



many, in part, unreasonable and contradictory claims about closing or opening of pores, chemical or physical 
influence on the sap and its contents, albumen, gum, resin, sugar, etc., substances whose very existence in many 
cases is problematical or doubtful, the general claims of increased checking and warping, "casehardening," 
"honeycombing," etc., as well as reduction of strength, are still prevalent even among the very manufacturers 
themselves. The manner and progress of the kiln-drying may render this otherwise useful method of seasoning 
injurious. Rapid drying of the heavier hardwoods of complicated structure, especially in large sizes and from the 
green state, is apt to produce inordinate checking and thus weakening of the material. For Southern pine, however, 
it is entirely practicable to carry on the process without any injury, as is evidenced by the following experiment, 
in which wood of Cuban pine in small dimensions (4 by 4) was seasoned in warm air (about 100>^ V.) and parts of 
the same scantling were dried at temperatures varying from 150° at the entrance end to 190° F. at the exit- 





Bending strength. 


Compression 
strength. 


Absolute. 


At elastic limit. 


Mean of material not tiln-drieiX (reduced to 15 per 


Lbn.persqAn. 
12, 200 
11,600 


Lbs. per sq. in. 
9,070 
9,180 


Lbs. per sq. in. 
7,630 
8,550 







Well-constructed "blower kilns," where the hot air is blown in at one end and escapes at the other (this latter 
always the entrance end for the material), are giving satisfaction. The best kiln, however, seems to be one in 
which ample piping in the kiln itself insures sufficiently high (up to 180'^ F.), uniform temperature in all parts of 
the kiln, and where the circulation, promoted by a suction fan, is moderate and under perfect control. In such 
kilns even timbers of large size can be dried satisfactorily with a temperature not over 150° F. 

EFFECT OP HIGII-TEMPERATUKB AND HIGH-PKESSUKE PROCESSES. 

For some time a process employing high temperature under high pressure (temperature over 300° F., pressure 
150 pounds) has been discussed and applied, claiming as a result of the treatment (1) increase in strength; (2) 
increase in durability; (3) absence of shrinkage. 

The result of a series of experiments in which a number of scantlings of longleaf pine, one-half treated, the 
other untreated, is as follows : 



Bending 
strength. 



Lbs. per sq.i 
7,770 
12, 340 



Compression 
strength. 



Lbs. per sq. i 
5,600 
7,400 



The same difterence in favor of the untreated material obtained in every single case. 

The chemical analyses performed on wood lying side by side along the same radius, being of the same annual 
rings and same position in tree, gave the following: 

Per cent of rosin and phenols calculated to dry weight of wood. 





Tree No. 475. 


Tree Xo. 470. 


Average of both. 


Treated. 


Untreated. 


Treated. 


Untreated. 


Treated. 


Untreated. 


Kosin : 


Per cent. 
1.21 
8.35 

0.061 
0.290 


Per cent. 
2.05 
10.58 

0.083 
U.180 


Per cent. 
1.22 
2.23 

0.045 
0.070 


Per cent. 
1.23 
1.93 

0.083 
0.058 


Per cent. 
1.22 
5.29 

0.053 
0. 180 


Per cent. 
1.61 
6.26 

0.083 
0.119 




Phenols : 







Ic appears that the protective rosin is rather decreased by the treatment, and the antiseptic phenols not 
increased in an adequate amount to 1)6 of value since it requires at least 20 times as much heavy oil in wood 
impregnation to be effective. It is, however, possiljle that the change of color due to the process may be accom- 
plished and be produced by the formation of empyreumatic bodies (allied to the humus substances) which may act 
as preservative against the attacks of fungi. 

The claim that the shrinkage of the wood is favorably influenced Ijy the process was not sustained by a series 
of experiments with oak and i)ine, which showed that the treated wood absorbs water from air or in the tub, swells 
and shrinks in the same manner and to about the same extent as the untreated wood. 

EFFECT OF IMMERSION ON THE STRENGTH OF WOOD. 

The notion frequently expressed is that "soaking wood by floating, rafting, etc., reduces its tendency to decay 
and shrinkage, but injures its strength." The same was claimed for boiling or steaming preparatory to bending. 
The last position was disjjroved by Peter Barlow in the first quarter of this century. The following figures (results 
of an experiment involving several hundred separate tests) disprove the former assertion. 



356 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



The soaked wood was kept immersed six months, each piece having its check pieces from the same scantling, 
which were not subject to the same process, but were tested — one green and one dry. All soaked pieces were 
seasoned in dry kiln before testing. All values were reduced to 15 per cent moistuie. 



Lobolly pine. 


BendJDg 
strength. 


Conipression 

strength. 




Lbs. per sq.in. 
10, 820 
10. 570 


Lbs. persq. in. 
6,780 
7,060 







EEFECT OF "BOXING OR "BLEEDING." 

"Bleeding"' pine trees for their resin — to which only the longleaf and Cuban pine are subjected — has generally 
been regarded as injurious to the timber. Both durability and strength, it was claimed, were impaired by this 
process, and in the specifications of many architects and large consumers, such as railway companies, "bled" timber 
was excluded. Since the utilization of resin is one of the leading industries of the South, and since the process 
aft'ects several millions of dollars' worth of timber every year, a special investigation involving mechanical tests, 
physical and chemical analyses of the wood of bled and unbled trees from the same locality were carried out by this 
division. The results prove concnsively (1) that bled timber is as strong as unbled if of the same weight; (2) that 
the weight and shrinkage of the wood is not affected by bleeding; (3) that bled trees contain practically neither 
more nor less resin than unbled trees, the loss of resin referring only to the sapwood, and, therefore, the durability 
is not aff'ected by the bleeding process. 

The following tal>le shows the remarkable numerical similarity between the average results for three groups 
of trees, the higher values of the unbled material being readily explained by the difference in weight : 



Longleaf pine. 


Number of 

teats. 


Speciflo 
weight of 
test pieces. 


Bending 
strength. 


Compression 
strength. 




400 
390 
535 


0.74 
0.79 
0.76 


Lbs. per aq. in. 
12, 358 
12,961 
12,586 


Lbs. per sq. in. 
7,166 
7,813 
7,675 









The amount of resin in the wood varies greatly, and trees growing side by side differ within very wide limits. 
Sapwood contains but little resin (1 to 4 per cent), even in those trees in which the heartwood contaius abundance. 
In the heartwood the resin forms from 5 to 24 per cent of the dry weight (of which about one-sixth is turpentine and 
can not be removed by bleeding), so that its quantity remains unaffected by the process. Bled timber, then, is as 
useful for all purposes as unbled. 

To give au idea how necessary it i.s that a hirge series of material be tested before making 
statements of the strength of wood of any species, we reproduce one of the many tables contained 
in Bulletin 8, which at the same time exhibits the variation of strength throughout the tree and 
from tree to tree. 



TIMBER PHYSICS SOUTHEKN PINE. 



357 



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TIMBER PHYSICS — BEAMS AND COLUMNS. 



359 



SIZE OP TEST MATERIAL. 

The long-standing idea of engineers and other consumers to have wood tested more nearly in 
the sizes used in ordinary practice led to the adoption of test sizes, generally varying from 3 by 3 
inches to 4 by 4 inches. Besides this, special inquiries with different kinds of timber into the 
relation of large and small tests were instituted to ascertain the correctness of the general dogma 
which claimed that tests on small pieces could not be utilized, since such pieces for their very size 
gave higher values of strength. This investigation involved fall-size columns as well as beams, 
and was continued throughout the entire period of the timber-physics work. It led to a number of 
the most interesting and highly valuable results, as will appear from the following statements : 



Selected tests of columns and compression 


pieces from the same trees 


compared. 








Small pieces 


Large 










Number 
of tree. 


Length. 


I 
d 


(average of 
whole tree). 


columns. 


Itel.ative value. 


Deflec- 
tion. 


Failure. 






(a) 


W 


(a) 


(l» 












Poundsper 


Poundsper 












Feet. 




sq. inch. 


sq. inch. 






Inch. 




239 


12 


U 


6.700 


6,100 


100 


91 


0.7 


Sheared. 


240 


12 


14 


7,000 


6,900 


100 


99 


0.1 


Compressinn. 


241 


12 


15 


0,900 


6,500 


100 


94 


0.7 


Do. 


:i09 


12 


12 


6,800 


6,500 


100 


96 


0.4 


Do. 


312 


12 


10 


6,100 


0,300 


100 


103 


. 0.4 


Do. 



In these columns (nearly one-tentli of all lougleaf pine columns tested) the strength was so nearly the same as that 
of thesliort pieces that it appears as if flexure h.ad but little to do with the failure, the sm.all differences being amply 
accounted for by a larger number of defects in the columns. Should this prove true in general for wooden columns 
as ordinarily designed, the i)roblcm would become simply a, study of the influence of defects and of proper inspection. 

The nature of the failures would also point in this direction: 

Of 86 columns 32 failed normally, i. e., in simple compression; 22 were crushed near the end; 14failed at knots, 
and 19 by shearing, the rupture usually beginning at or near the ends ; a small knot proved suflicient to cause a large 
column, 20 times as long as its di.ametcr, to fail at 14 inches from the end. 

The deflection in the average for all columns (12 to 20 feet long) was only about 1 inch for the maximum 
load, when, to be sure, destruction had progressed for some time; at the elastic limit the deflection was only about 
one-half as much. These results would seem to warrant the statement that for pine columns at least, in which the 
ratio of height to least diameter does not exceed 1 in 20, none of the .accepted column formnl* are apjilicable, the 
nature of the failure being mostly in simple compression, and depending more ou specific defects than on the design 
of the column. ' 

STRENGTH OF LARGE BEAMS AND COLUMNS. 

Owing to the fact that much wood testing has been done on small, select, and perfectly seasoned pieces, usually 
from butt logs, the values thus obtained seemed to difi'er very markedly from the results on large timbers usually 
very imperfectly seasoned, .and it w.as claimed that tests on small sizes always furnished too high values, just as if 
the differences were due to sizes alone. 

AVhile, to be sure, a small piece may be so selected that defects are excluded, the grain straight and in the 
most favorable position with regard to the load, the assumption of the difference in strength of small jiieces from 
that of large-sized sticks has never been made good experimentally. 

Since it appears desirable to compare the results from large beams and columns not only with the average 
data obtained from the general test scries on small 4 by 4 material, but also with the average strength of small pieces 
cut from the same beams and columns, a special inquiry into the legitimacy of sncU a comp.arison was made. This 
study involved over 100 separate tests, and proved the very important fact that uninjured parts of broken beams 
and columns do not suffer in the test. The l.arge-sized beams varied from 4 by 4 to 8 by 16 inches. 

Tests of large and small licams — Bending strength. 





Small be.ams. 

gener.al 
test scries. 


Largo beams. 


Smcall be.ams 

cut from 
large beams. 


Total. 


Beams from 

■which 

small beams 

were out. 


Number of tests involved 


1,986 


127 


57 


230 


Lbs. per sq,in. 
11,300 
10, 000 
9,300 


Lbs. per sq.in. 
11, 500 
10,800 
9,200 


Lbs. per sq.in. 
9,800 
10, 300 
8,700 


Lbs.per sq.in. 
10, 100 
10, 000 
8,700 


Loblolly . . 







From the preceding t.able it would appear that large timbers, when symmetrically cut (i. e., with the center of 
the log as center of the beam), develop as beams practically the same strength as the average of the small pieces that 
may be cut from them, and sometimes even higher values ; the explanation being that cut in this manner the extreme 
fibers which .are tested in a beam come to lie in th.at part of the tree which, as a rule, contains the strongest timber. 



360 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Results discordant from these may be explained by differences in the degree of seasoning of the outer layers 
and also by the fact that especially in the northern pineries timbers are often cut from the top logs, which are 
weaker and more defective. 

Test of large and small columns — Compression strength. 





Re<iular aeries 
fromsaiiietrees 
as the colnnins. 


Columns (sim- 
ple compres- 
sion). 


Small piecea 
cut from 
columns. 




949 


95 


97 




Lbs. per sq. in. 
6, COO 
0,800 
5,900 
7,400 


Lbs, per sq. in. 
5, 300 
4,700 
4,100 
5,000 


Lbs. per sq. in. 
7,100 
6,300 
C, 200 
8,700 


Loblblly 









The square columns were mostly 8 by 8 inches, some 10 by 10 inches, a few of larger and also some of smaller dimen- 
sions. The ratio of length to width varied from 12 to 27, about one-half being under and the other half over 18 to 1. The 
compression pieces of the regular series, and those cut from the brolcen columns, were in general about 4 by 4 by 6 inches. 

It will appear from this statement of average results that columns develop only from 62 per cent (in Cubanl to 
78 per cent (longleaf) of the compression strength of ordinary short pieces. The explanation may be due to several 
reasons, natural and mechanical. In a column, unlike a beam, all the iibers are under great strain ; hence all the 
defects, which are by necessity found in every column, influence the resiilts; the flexure of a column under strain is 
an element of wealmess, to which the short compression piece is not subject. In addition the difficulty of determin- 
ing the average moisture condition of the large timber throughout the cross section and that of the small pieces cut 
from them afterwards would render this method for columns less satisfactory ; a larger number of tests will still be 
required to establish comparable average conditions in the two kinds of tests. It would, therefore, be unsafe to 
generalize too hastily from these average figures, at least as to the numerical difference, for there are remarkable 
individual exceptions. Not only do individual columns show difterences in strength 50 per cent and more lower 
than the compression pieces from the same log, but sometimes they show practically the same or even a higher value 
of strength, as will appear from the following selected cases, in which the data for the columns are placed in com- 
jiarison with those obtained on compression pieces from the same tree. 

Additional Series on Beams and Column.?. 

A series more extended as regards beams, involving 68 largo and 777 small beams, besides over 1,000 compression 
tests on the same material on which the beam tests were made, and tests on 6 large columns, has fully confirmed the 
indications of tlie previous experiments. 

TESTS ON COLUMNS. 

The coluums were 12 by 12 inches and 8 by 12 inches in cross section, with a length of 132 to 168 inches. From 
these were cut, as near aa possible from the place of failure, two blocks 24 inches long, and these blocks were tested 
on the same large testing machine (described in Bulletin 6), so that inaccuracies of machinery do not enter into 
consideration. The results, tabulated as follows, prove conclusively the statement made upon the former more 
extensive series (see Circular 12), that wooden columns in which the diameter aud length are to each other as 1 to 
18 or less behave like short blocks and fail in simple compression. The four columns of long-leaf pine exhibit 
practically the same strength as the short blocks — i. e., within 10 per cent — which, as has been shown above, is 
within the limits of maximum uniformity. 

Strength, of large columns and short (34-inch) hloclcs cut from these columns. 



Kind of wood. 


Dimensi 
of colun 


ns 


Moi.stiire 
of woiid 
(percent). 


Modulus of 
elasticity 
(pounds). 


Compression 

strength in pounds 

per squiire inch. 


(inches). 


Columns. 


Short 
blocks. 




lU 
133 


12 
12 


12 
12 


14.2 
12.9 


2, 274, 000 
1, 740, GOO 


4,840 
4,840 


6,090 
5,660 


Do..... 




168 
168 

155 


12 
12 
12 
12 


8 
8 
8 
8 


■ 30.9 
.'!2.3 
40.8 
29.7 


1, 628, 000 
1, 570, 000 
1, 764, 000 
1,776,000 


2,940 
3, 170 
3,030 
3,710 


2,950 
3,630 
3,310 
3,780 




Do 


Do 





BEAM TESTS. 

The experiments, of which the following tables contain the principal results, were performed on beams 
generally 8 by 12 by 192 inches. After breaking tlie largo beam 12 small beams were cut from the uninjured portion 
of the large beam' in such a way that the entire cross section of the large piece w.as represented by two sets of 6 
small be.ims each. Besides these tests on small beams, the compression strength of part of the material was tested 
on sm.ill blocks, part of which was sawed and part split from portions of the large beam. (See diagram at head of 

' The legitimacy of using such material for such purpose has been fully established by a loug series of experi- 
ments. (See Circular 12, Division of Forestry, p. 11.) 



TIMBER PHYSICS — SIZE OF TEST MATERIAL. 



361 



table.) To avoid any complications due to differences or changes in moisture, the tests on large and small beams 
were performed the same day. 

Strength of large heams and of small beams, and of compression pieces cnt from them. 

[Usually 12 small beams cut from the vminjured part of each large beam.] 

\/ 



BUTT 




6" 


S' 


B£AM 
A/° 


S' 


e" 




TOP 


6" 


6" 



























v\ 



SPi/TS/)iV£S 



/ 


2 


3 


4 


5 


6 



SAyv£o.SPi/r 



TV 



7 


8 


9 


/O 
/2 



Kind of wootl. 


Number 
of beam. 


Strength 
of large 
beams. 


Average 
stren^h 
of small 
beams. 


Moisture. 


Compression, 
endwise strength. 


Large 


Small 


Sawed 


Split 








beams. 


beams. 


pieces. 


pieces. 






Lbe. per 


Lbs. per 






Lbs. per 


Lbs. per 






sq. in. 


.sq. in. 


Per cent. 


Per cent. 


sq. in. 


sq. in. 


Oak 


2 


7,400 
5,880 


8,560 
8,660 


69.5 
70.3 


68.5 
69.0 


3,960 
. 4, 340 


4,120 
4,700 






3 


6,570 


U, 220 


75.3 


75.2 


3,030 


3,190 




4 


8,640 


8,800 


66.6 


67.6 


4,090 


4,460 




5 


8,150 


7,710 


64.8 


65.8 


3,680 


3,760 




6 


7,460 


0,910 


63.0 


66.6 


3,330 


3,330 




8 


6,870 


6,890 


67.4 


70.5 


3,470 


3,190 


Shortleaf pine 


9 


8,300 


7,950 


48.1 


57.7 


4,030 


4,160 




10 


7,440 


7,250 


42.1 


56.3 


3,840 


3,850 




11 


5,110 


6,760 


38.9 


33.3 


3,870 


3,630 




12 


7,360 


6,930 


35.2 


33.6 


3,890 


3,850 




13 


7,320 


7,300 


37.4 


40.6 


4,090 


3,800 


White pine 


14 


3,110 


3, 560 


84.9 


83.6 


2,440 


2, 500 




15 


, 4, 280 


4, 340 


43.8 


41.2 


2,710 


2,840 




16 


3,770 


4,590 


50.7 


50.5 


2,660 


2,760 




17 


3,460 


3,590 


60.0 


48.6 


2,410 


2,570 




18 


3,990 


3,640 


42.8 


43.0 


2,800 


2,620 




19 


4,040 


4,400 


62.4 


60.4 


2,760 


2,780 




2U 


4,410 


4,180 


63.6 


51.8 


2,680 


2,700 




21 


4,900 


4,320 


50.1 


51.0 


3,010 


2,900 




22 


3,860 


4,320 


50.2 


60.8 


2, 500 


2,430 




23 


4,660 


4,890 


52.0 


58.2 


2,850 


2,880 




24 


3,960 


4,440 


76.3 


71.5 


2,520 


2,710 




25 


3,920 


4,410 


53.6 


60.5 


2,840 


2,730 


Shortleaf pine 


20 


4 560 


6,200 
5,610 


31.2 


30.6 


3,660 


3,850 




27 


4,390 


33.9 


36.0 


2,830 


3,110 




28 


6,670 


6,830 


28.6 


28.9 


3,640 


3,590 




29 


7,410 


7,630 


28.6 


29.0 


4,450 


4,250 




30 


6,600 


7,160 


28.3 


28.9 


4,200 


4,190 




31 


6,750 


0,000 


34.3 


36.5 


3,630 


3,530 




32 


6,210 


7.500 


26.4 


27.2 


3, 9J0 


4,050 




33 


7,450 


8,390 


29.5 


30.1 


4,350 


4,220 




34 


7,000 


7,800 


28.4 


29.6 


4,070 


4,120 




35 


6,030 


6,740 


28.8 


29.4 


3,810 


3,640 




36 


6, 520 


0,890 


31.6 


31.6 


4,320 


4,370 




37 


7,030 


7,890 


29.2 


29.9 


4,380 


4,920 




38 


7,710 


8,510 


26.2 


25.4 


4,500 


4,610 




39 


8,090 


8,210 


32.5 


31.9 


4,560 


4,670 




40 


7,680 


7.980 


31.1 


32.3 


4,290 


4,380 




41 


7,330 


8,230 


31.7 


31.5 


4,680 


4,820 


LonEjleaf pine 


42 


7.290 
8,850 


8 740 


30.9 


31.2 


4,950 


5,120 




43 


9^720 


28! 1 


28.9 


5,300 


5,440 




44 


8,040 


8,870 


26.3 


26.9 


4,730 


5,070 




45 


■ 8, 090 


8,850 


25.8 


25.4 


6,000 


5,050 




46 


7,620 


7,670 


32.6 


33.9 


4,730 


4,830 




47 


6,710 


7,610 


33.0 


33.4 


4,200 


4,520 




48 


8,480 


8,300 


29.3 


29.3 


4,870 


4,890 




49 


5,630 


0,250 


34.6 


33.7 


3,600 


3,630 


White pine 


50 


4,900 


5, 020 


87.2 


75 7 


2,970 


3,200 




51 


5' 300 


5^210 


71! 4 


69.6 


3,330 


3,240 




52 


4,810 


4,470 


77.2 


64.7 


2,940 


3,100 




S3 


3,610 


3,610 


54.5 


58.2 


2,400 


2.650 




54 


4,440 


4,720 


97.6 


94.9 


2,710 


2,900 


Shortleaf pine 


55 


6,400 
6,690 


7 610 


27.0 


27 1 


4 340 


4,500 




56 


6!880 


28.4 


26.6 


4,050 


4,210 




67 


6,670 


6,990 


27.0 


26.4 


4,100 


4,340 




58 


7,310 


7,490 


28.5 


26.8 


4,100 


4,030 


White pine 


101 


5 070 


7,200 
6,890 


15 4 


16.2 


5,410 


6 720 




102 


6i340 


11! 


11! 7 


4] 920 


5,520 




103 


7,070 


8,750 


12.2 


10.5 


5,140 


5,760 




104 


4,900 


6,680 


12.1 


8.2 


4,360 


4,700 




105 


6,640 


6,890 


10.6 


11.2 


5,450 


5,310 




106 


6,180 


7,650 


11.6 


11.3 


6,190 


5,420 




107 


6,080 


6,000 


11.6 


11.6 


4,810 


5,170 




108 


5, 510 


6,810 


11.1 


10.7 


6,100 


4,710 




109 


6,930 


7,300 


11.4' 


10.5 


5,330 


5,080 




110 


5, 930 


6,010 


12.1 


11.6 


4,600 


4,670 




111 


4,010 


5,040 


13.0 


13.0 


4,270 


4,390 



362 FORESTEY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

OBSEUVATIONS AND DEDUCTIONS. 

(a) The difference between the values for the large heam and the average for the small beams is not at all 
constant, either in ch.-iracter or quantity; the large beam may be stronger (20 per cent of the cases) or practically 
as strong— i. e., within 10 per cent (57 per cent of the cases)— or it may be weaker, and vary often considerably from 
the average (23 per cent of the cases). 

Of 690 tests on small beams 235 furnished results smaller than that of the large beam. Again, out of 396 small 
be.ims fully 40 per cent were weaker that the large beam, while of another series of 300 only 24 per cent gave lower 
values. 

(/j) There are in every case some small beams which far excel in strength the large beam; even in such cases, 
where the average strength of the small beams is practically the same as that of the large beam, some small beams 
show values 25 to 30 per cent greater than the large beam. 

(c) In only 6 per cent of the cases each of the small pieces gave a higher result than was obtained from the 
large beam, but in these cases the latter was evidently defective. 

(d) In all beams the differences observed between the several sm.ill beams themselves are far greater than that 
between the average value of the small beams and the value of the large beam from which they are cut. 

From these observations, which are fnlly in accord with the observations on the numerous tests of the large 
general series, it would appear that — 

(1) Size alone can not account for the differences observed ; and, therefore, also that a small beam is not propor- 
tionately stronger because it is smaller, for it may be either stronger or weaker; but that ii it is stronger, the cause 
of this lies in the fact that the larger beam contains weak as well as strong wood, besides other defects, which may 
or may not appear in the small stick. 

(2) Generally, but not always, a large timber gives values nearer the average, since it contains, naturally, a 
larger quantity as well as a greater variety of the wood of the tree; and, therefore, also — 

(3) Small beams, for the very reason of their smallness, containing, as they do, both a smaller quantity and 
variety of the material, give results which vary more from the average than results from large beams, and, there- 
fore, can be utilized only if a sufficient number be tested; but it also appears that — 

(4) To obtain an average value, even a very moderate number of smaller pieces, if they fairly represent the 
wood of the entire stem, give fully as reliable data as values derived from a large beam. 

(5) Average values derived from a large series of tests on small hut representath-e material may he used in practice with 
perfect safety, and these averages are not likely to he modified hy tests on large material. 

It might be added that both the practicability and need of est.ablishing a coefficient or ratio between results 
from tests on large and small beams or columns falls away. To deserve any confidence at all, only a large series of 
tests on either large or small beams would satisfy the requirement of estabiisliing standard values, while a series of 
small pieces has the preference, not only on account of greater cheapne3S and convenience in establishing the values, 
but still more for the reason that only by the use of small, properly chosen material is it possible to obtain a 
sufficiently complete representation of the entire log. 

Before these results, part of which were published by installments, had all been computed 
and arranged, the results of the work made it possible to publish, for the first time iu the English 
language, a brief exposition of the technical properties of wood in general, which appeared as 
Bulletin 10 of the Division. This little booklet was copied verbatim several times by different tech- 
nical journals of this country, was embodied in toto in one of the best works on the materials of 
engineering, and was even translated into French by one of the foremost publishers of France, 
besides being used itself as a text-book by several of our largest colleges. In addition to the 
discussions of the several technical properties of wood, this booklet contains the first attempt in 
the English language at a key by which our common woods may be safely recognized from their 
structure alone. The key and some of the tables in this bulletin have been reproduced in an 
earlier part of this report. By this time, when the work was interrupted by superior orders, there 
were brought together the strength values for the wood of 32 species, of which 2G were represented 
by more than 200 tests each (the longleaf pine by over G,000), 17 of them by over 400 tests per 
species, and seven by over 1,000 tests. These results were published in full iu Circular lHo. 15 of 
the Division, from which the following extract is here repeated : 

Summary op Mechanical Tests on Thirty-two Species op American Woods. 
general remarks. 

The chief points of superiority of the data obtained in these investigations lie in, (1) Correct identification of 
the material, it being collected by a competent botanist in the woods; (2) selection of representative trees with 
record of age, development, place and soil where grown, etc. ; (3) determination of moisture conditions and specific 
gravity and record of position in the tree of the test pieces; (4) largo number of trees and of test pieces from each 
tree; (5) employment of large and small-sized test material from the same trees; (6) uniformity of method for an 
nnusally Large number of tests. 

The entire work of the mechanical test series, carried on through nearly six years intermittently as funds 



TIMBEE PHYSICS — STRENGTH OP SPECIES. 



363 



■were available, comprises so far 32 species with 308 test trees, furnishing over 6,000 test pieces, supplying material 
for 45,336 tests in all, of which 16,767 were moisture and specific gravity determinations on the test material. 

In addition to the material for mechanical tests, about 20,000 pieces have been collected from 780 trees (including 
the 308 trees used in mechanical tests) for physical examination to determine structure, character of grovrth, specific 
gravity of green and dry wood, shrinkage, moisture conditions, and other properties and behavior. 

In addition to the regular series of tests, the results of which are recorded in the subjoined tables, special 
series, to determine certain questions -were planned and carried otit in part or to finish, adding 4,325 tests to the 
above number. 

Account of test material. 



No. 


JTanie of species. 


Num- 
ber of 
trees. 


Number 
ofme- 

cb.anical 
tests. 


Average 
speciti'c 
gravity 
of dry 
wood. 


Localities and number of trees from each. 






68 

12 

32 
17 
8 
4 
20 
4 


6,478 

2,113 
1,831 
3,335 
540 
412 
696 
3,396 
354 
225 
1,009 
911 
256 
935 
299 
479 
222 
132 
649 
1,035 
794 
300 
197 
100 
294 
172 
84 
91 
201 
476 
45 
508 


O.Cl 

.63 
.51 
.53 
.38 
.50 
.44 
.46 
.37 
.51 
.80 
.74 
.80 
.74 
.73 
.73 
.72 
.73 
.72 
.73 
.81 
.85 
.73 
.77 
.78 
.78 
.89 
.54 
.74 
.62 
.62 
.59 


Alabama, coast plain (22) a; uplands (6) ; hill district (6) ; Georgia, undulat- 
ing uplands (0) ; South Carolina, coast plain (7) ; Mississippi, low coast 
plain (2) : Louisiana, low coast plain, graveUy soil (7) ; sandy loam (6) ; 
Texas, low coast pl.iin (6). 

Alabama, coast plain (6) ; Georgia, ^^plands (1) ; South Carolina, coast (5). 

Alabama, uplands (4) ; Missouri, low hilly uplands (6) ; Arkansas, low billy 

uplands (6); Texas, uplands (6). 
Alabama, mountainous plateau (81 ; low coast pl.ain (6) ; Arkansas, level flood 

plain (5) ; Georgia, level coast plain (6); South Carolina, low coast plain (7). 
"Wisconsin, clay uplands (5): sandy soils (4) ; sandy loam (5); Michigan, level 

drift lands (3). 
AVisconsiu, drift (5) ; Michigan (3). 

Alabama, low coast plain. 

South Carolina, pine barren (6) ; river bottom (4) ; Louisiana, coast plain, 

border of lake (4) ; Mississippi, Yazoo bottom (3) : upland (3). 
Mississippi, low plain. 

(From lumber yard.) 

Alabama, ridges of Tennessee Valley (5); Mississippi, low plain (7). 

Mississippi, low plain (7) ; Arkansas, Mississippi bottoms (3). 

Alabama, Tennessee Valley (5) ; Arkansas, Mississippi bottom (3). 

Alabama, Tennessee Valley (4) ; Arkansas, Mississippi bottoms (3) ; Missis- 
sippi, low plain (4). 
Alabama, Tennessee Valley (5) ; Arkansas, Mississippi bottom (2).() y 




(Pmus paluatria.) 


s 


(Finns heterophylla.) 




(Pinus ei^liinata.) 


l> 


(Pinus tKda.) 


6 


(Pinus strobus.) 
Eedpine 

(Pinus rosinosa.) 




(Pinua glabra.) 


q 


(Taxodium diatichum.) 




(Cbamaecyparis tbyoides.) 




(Pseudotsuga taxifolia.) 


12 
10 
8 
11 

3 

4 
12 
11 
6 
4 

4 
.1 

3 

3 
3 
1 

7 




(Quercus alba.) 


n 


(Quercua lyrata.) 




(Quercus minor.) 




(Quercua michauxii.) 




(Quercus rubra.) 




Ark.ansas, Mississippi bottom. 
Alabama, Tennessee Valley (5) . 
Mississippi, low plain (4) . 

Alabama, Tennessee Valley (5) ; Arkansas, Mississippi bottom (3) ; Missis- 
sippi, low plain (4). 

Alabama, Tennessee Valley (5) ; Arkansas, Mississippi bottom (3) ; Missis- 
sippi, low plain (3). 

Mississippi, alluvial plain (3) ; limestone (3). 

Mississippi, low plain. 


17 


{Quercua texana.) 


IS 


(Quercua velutina.) 




(Quercua nigra.) 




(Quercua pbellos.) 


'l' 


(Quercua digitata.) 


no 


(Hicoria ovataO 


■>? 


(Hicoria alba.) 




(Hicoria aquatica.) 




""i 


(Hicoria minima.) 


Do 


M 


(Hicoria raynaticaiformis.) 


Do. 




(Hicoria pecan.) 






(Hicoria glabra.) 


Mississippi, bottom. 


"I 


(Ulmus americana.) 
Cedar elm 


10 


(tllmus crassifolia.) 


Mississippi, bottom. 


^^^ 


(Fraxiuus americana.) 




(Fraxinus lanceolata.) 


Arkansas, bottom (3) ; Mississipiri, low plain (4) . 




(Liquidambar styraciflua.) 



a Sixteen of these were bled treea to atudy tbe effects of boxing. 

h These two should probably be clasaed as Southern red oak. Thoy were collected before the distinction was finally decided upon. 

NoTE.^ — The values for apecific gravity hero given refer to "dry" wood of teat material — i.e., wood containing variable- amounts of 
moisture below 15 per cent; the moisture eflect has therefore not been taken into account, but more careful experiments indicate that its 
nfluence on apecilic gravity at such low per cent is so small that it may be neglected for practical purposes. 



As -will be observed, some species, notably the Southern pines, have been more fully investigated, and the results 
on these (-which have been published more in detail in Circular No. 12) may be taken as authoritative. With those 
species of which only a small number of trees have been tested this can be claimed only within limits and in 
proportion to the number of tests. 



364 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. g. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



The great variation in strengtli which is noticeable in timber of the same species makes it necessary to accept 
with caution the result of a limited number of tests as representing the average for the species, for it may have 
happened that only all superior or all inferior material has been used in the tests. Hence we would not be entitled 
to conclude, for instance, that pignut hickory is 14 per cent stronger than shagbark, as it would appear in the table, 
for the 30 test pieces of the former may easily have been superior material. Only a detailed examination of the test 
pieces or a fuller series of tests would enlighten us as to the comparative value of the results. 

The following data, therefore, are not to be considered as in any sense final values for the species, except where 
the number of trees and tests is very large : 

BesuJts of tests in compression endwise. 
[Pounds per square iuch.] 



Species. 



Jteditced to 15 per cent moisture. 

Longleaf pine 

Cuban pine 

Shortleaf pine 

Lobhilly pine 

Jieduced to IS per cent moisttire. 

White pine 

lied pine 

Spruce pine 

Bald cypress 

White cedar 

Douglas spruce a 

Whi te oak 

Orercup oak 

Post oak 

Cow oak J.. 

Ked oak 

Texan oak 

Yellow oak 

Water oak 

Willow oak 

Spanish oak 

Sliagbark hickory 

Mockeruut hickory . ._ 

Water hickory 

Bitternut hickory 

Nntni^g hickory 

Pecan hickory 

Pignut hickory 

White elm 

Cedar elm 

White ash 

Green ash ; 

Sweet gum 



Number 
of teats. 


Higliest 
single teat. 


Lowest 
single test. 


Arerage 
liighestlO 
per cent 
of tests. 


Average 
lowest 10 
par cent 


Average 
of all tests. 


Proportion 

of tests 

within 10 

per cent of 


Proport.ion 
of tests 
within 25 

per cent of 






























Per cent. 


Per cent. 


1,230 


11. 900 


3,400 


8,600 


5,700 


6,900 


53 


90 


410 


10, 600 


2,800 


9,500 


6,500 


7,900 


61 


93 


330 


8,500 


4,500 


7,600 


4,800 


6,900 


47 


90 


660 


11, 200 


3,900 


8,700 


5,400 


6,500 


49 


81 


130 


8,600 


3,200 


0,800 


4,000 


5,400 


49 


93 


100 


8,200 


4, 300 


8,100 


4,900 


6,700 


54 


96 


170 


10, 000 


4.400 


8,800 


5,600 


7,300 


66 


95 


655 


9,900 


2, 900 


8,500 


4,200 


6,000 


31 


74 


87 


6,200 


3,200 


6,000 


4,400 


5,200 


79 


99 


41 


8, 900 


4,100 


8,100 


4,200 


5,700 


28 


65 


218 


12, 500 


5,100 


11, 300 


6,300 


8,600 


40 


81 


210 


9,100 


3,700 


8,600 


6,000 


7,300 


70 


95 


49 


8,200 


5, 900 


8,100 


6,000 


7,100 


58 


lOO 


250 


11, 500 


4,600 


9,800 


5,600 


7,400 


51 


89 


57 


9,700 


5,400 


9,200 


5, 500 


7,200 


36 


84 


117 


11,300 


5, 800 


9,800 


6,900 


8,100 


62 


98 


40 


8,600 


5,500 


8,300 


5,800 


7,300 


58 


lOO 


31 


9,200 


0, 200 


9,000 


6,300 


7,800 


75 


lOO 


153 


11,000 


4,200 


8,700 


5,500 


7,200 


51 


88 


251 


10, 600 


3,700 


9,500 


5,100 


7,700 


61 


94 


137 


13, 700 


5, 800 


10, 900 


7,500 


9,500 


79 


97 


75 


12, 200 


6,200 


11,600 


8,000 


10, 100 


65 


99 


14 


10, 000 


6,700 


9,000 


7,000 


8,400 


71 


100 


25 


11, 500 


7,300 


11, 200 


7,800 


9.600 


00 


100 


72 


12, 300 


6,400 


11,000 


7,100 


8,800 


79 


97 


37 


10, 500 


5, 800 


10, 400 


7,300 


9,100 


51 


95 


30 


13, 000 


8, 700 


12, 700 


8,900 


10, 900 


72 


100 


18 


8,800 


4,900 


8, 800 


5,000 


6, 500 


28 


88 


44 


10, 600 


6, 200 


10, 100 


G, 500 


8,000 


66 


95 


87 


9,000 


5,000 


8,700 


5,700 


7. 200 


48 


96 


10 


n. 800 


6,600 


9,800 


6,600 


8,000 


29 


100 


118 


8.900 


4,600 


8,500 


5,600 


7,100 


60 


97 



a Actual tests on "dry" material not reduced for moisture. 

The variation in strengtli in wood of the virgin forest, as -will be seeii from the tables, is in some species so 
great that by proper inspection and selection values differing by 25 to 50 per cent may be obtained from different 
parts of the ,s.ame tree, and values differing 100 to 200 per cent within the same species. These differences have all 
their definite recognizable causes, to find and formulate which is the final aim of these investigations. 

The tests are iuteutionally not made on selected material (except to discard absolutely defective pieces), but on 
material as it comes from the trees, so as to arrive at an average statement for the species, when a sufficient number 
of trees has been tested. How urgent is the need for data of inspection as above indicate.d will appear from the 
wide range of results recorded. 

To enable any engineer to use the data here given with due caution and judgment, not only the ranges of values 
and the average of all values obtained, but also the proportion of tests which came near the average values, have 
been stated, as well as the average results of the highest and lowest values of 10 per cent of the tests. With this 
information and a statement of the actual number of tests involved, the comparative merit of the stated values can 
be judged. With a large number of tests, to be sure, it is more likely that an average value of the species has been 
found. The actual test results have been rounded oft' to even hundreds in the tables. 



FACTORS OF SAFETY. 

With such lowest standard values, also lowest factors of safety could be employed. As to factors of safety, it 
may be proper to state that the final aims of the present investigations may be summed up in one proposition, 
namely, to establish rational factors of safety. It will be admitted by all engineers that the factors of safety as used 
at present can hardly be claimed to be more than guesswork. There is not an engineer who could give account as 
to the basis upon which numerically the factors of safety for wood have been established as "8 for steady stress; 
10 for varying stress; 15 for shocks" (see Merriman's Testbook on the Mechanics of Materials); or as 4 to 5 for 
"dead" load and 5 to 10 for "live" load (see Rankiue's Handbook of Civil Engiuoeriug). 



TIMBER PHYSICS FACTOR OF SAFETY. 



365 



The directions for using these indeterminate factors of safety given in the text-books would imply that the 
student or engineer is, after all, to rely on his judgment as to the modification of the factor, i. e., he is to add to this 
general guess his own particular guess. The factor of safety is in the main an expression of ignorance or lack of 
oontidence in the reliahility of values of strength, upon which the designing proceeds, together with an absence of 
data upon which to inspect the material. With a larger number of well-conducted tests, coupled with a knowledge 
of the quantitative as well as qualitative influeuces of various factors upon strength, and with definite data of 
inspection which allow ready sorting of material, the factor of safety, as far as it denotes the residuum of ignorance 
which may be assumed to remain, as to the character and behavior of the material, may be reduced to a mininium, 
restricting itself mainly to the consideration of the indeterminable variation in the actual and legitimate application 
of load. 

liesiUts of Ivats in compresaion endwise on rjreen wood (abore 40 per cent moisture, not reduced). 

[Pounds per atiuare inch.] 



Species. 



Highest 


Lowest 


single 


single 


test. 


test. 


7, .lOO 


2,800 


6,100 


3,500 


4,000 


3,000 


6,500 


2,600 


4,700 


2,800 


8,200 


1,800 


3,400 


2,300 


7,000 


3,200 


4,900 


2.800 


4,900 


2,300 


6,000 


3,100 


5,500 


2,300 


6,100 


2, 500 


6,900 


3,500 


7,200 


4,500 


5,600 


4,700 


6.500 


3,700 


3,800 


3,300 


0,200 


4,700 


3,600 


3,000 



Average 
of all 
tests. 



Longleaf pine 

Cuban pine 

Shortleaf pine 

Loblolly pine 

Spruce pine 

Bald cypress 

"WTiite cedar 

"White oak 

Overcup oak 

Cow oak 

Texan oak 

"Willow oak 

Spanish oak 

Shagbark hickory. . 
Mockerniit hickory 

"Water hickory 

Nutmeg hickory — 

Pecan hickory 

Pignut hickory 

Sweet gum 



4,300 
4,800 
3,300 
4,100 
3,900 
4,200 
2,900 



5,200 
3.800 
3,900 
6,700 
6,100 
5,200 
4,500 
3,600 
5,400 



While the values given in these tables may claim to contain more elements of reliability than most of those 
published hitherto, much more work will have to be done before the above-stated aim will be satisfied. 

In explauatinn of the table recording tests in bending at relative clastic limits it should be stated that since 
an elastic limit in the sense in which the term is used for metals, namely, as a point at which distortion becomes 
disproportionate to load and a permanent injury and set results, can not be readily determined for wood. Prof. J. B. 
Johnson has proposed to utilize a point where the rate of distortion becomes 50 per cent greater for the amount of 
load than it was for the initial' load, which point can be tolerably accurately determined (see Bull. 8, p. 9). This 
point he has called the "relative elastic limit." The assumption is that such a point would be near the limit to 
which the material can be strained without permanent injury, and the strength values obtained at that point would 
serve for indications of safe loads. 

The practical utility of determining this point and the strength values relating to it remains, however, still 
open for discussion. A comparison of the values obtained for the strength at rupture and at relative elastic limit 
shows a parallelism which would make it questionable whether much is gained by the use of that point, which in 
reality lies beyond the limit where practical injury has begun, as indicated by the increased distortion. 

We would bo inclined to consider that point more serviceable where the curve begins to deviate from the straight 
line, at which point we may assume no permanent injury has as yet been experienced. This point we may call 
provisionally the "safe limit." 

Objection has been made to utilizing this ])oint because it can not be located with as much nicety and mathe- 
matical precision as the ijoint of "relative elastic limit." But even this point is only approximately definable; and 
since no strength values can claim to l)e more than approximately correct, it would suffice to determine the safe- 
limit point and the correspondent strength values also only approximately. This point has the advantage that it 
lies on the safe side. 

Special series of tests to investigate the legitimacy of the use of any of these limits for practical purposes 
were designed, but have as yet not been taken up, and hence the values in the table on p. 367 are given (mly as 
suggestions for what they are worth. 



366, 



FOKESTKY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



MesuUs of tests in hending, at ruxdure. 
[Pounds per a(xuare inch.] 



lieduccd to 16 jjer cent Tnolsture. 

Loiigleaf itino 

Cuban pino 

SUortleaf pine 

Loblolly pine. - - - 

Jicduced to 13 per cent moisture, 

"White pino - 

Ked pine 

Spruce pine 

Bald cypresa 

White cedar 

Douglas spruce a 

"Wliite oak 

Ovcrcupoak •-... 

Tost oak 

Cow oak 

Kedoak 

Texiiiioak 

Yellow oak - 

Water oak 

AVillow oak 

Spanish oak 

Shajibark hickory 

Mockeniut liickory 

Water hickory 

Bitterniit hickory 

Kutnicf^ hickory 

Pecan hickory 

Pignut hickory 

White elm. 

Cedar elm 

White ash 

Green ash 

Sweet gum 



Highest 
single test. 



17,800 
17, OUO 

15, :mi 

14, 800 



11, 100 
12, 900 

16, :ioo 

14, 800 
9,100 

13, 000 
20, 300 
19, 600 
16, 400 
23, 000 
16, 500 

19, 500 

15, 000 

16, 000 

16, 000 

17, 300 
23, 300 

20, 700 

18, 000 
19, 500 
16, 600 
18, 300 
25, 000 

14, 000 
19, 200 

15, 000 

16, 000 
14, 400 



Lowest 
single test. 



3,300 
2,900 
5,000 
3,900 



4,600 
3,100 
3,100 
2,300 
3,500 
3,800 
5,700 
4,900 
5,100 
3,300 
5,700 
8,200 
5,100 



5,700 
5, 300 
.5, 300 
7,000 
6,700 
6,600 
11, lOO 
7,300 
6,600 
5,000 
5,100 



Average 

highest 10 

per cent of 

tests. 



14,200 
14, 600 
12, 400 
13, 100 



10, 100 

12, 300 

13, 600 
11, 700 

8,400 
12, 000 

18, 500 
14, 900 
15, 300 

12, 500 
15, 400 

16, 900 

14, 600 
15, 700 

13, 800 

15, 600 
20, 300 

19, 700 

17, 30O 
10, 300 

15, 600 
18, 100 
24, 300 

13, 600 
17, 300 

14, 200 

16, 000 
12, 700 



Average 

lowest 10 

per cent of 

tests. 



8,800 
7,000 
8,100 



5,000 
4,900 
5,800 
5,000 
4,000 
4,100 
7,600 
6,300 
7,400 
6,500 
9,100 
10, 000 
5,700 
7,200 
5,400 
6,900 
9,400 
7,900 
5,400 
8,700 
8,100 
10, 300 
11, 500 
7,300 
8,600 
6,300 
5,100 
6,000 



10,900 
11,900 
9,200 
10, 100 



7,900 
9, 100 
10, 000 
7,900 
6,300 
7,900 
13, 100 
11,300 
12, 300 
11,500 
11, 400 
13, 100 
10, 800 
12, 400 
10, 400 
12, 000 
16,000 
15,200 
12, 500 
15, OOO 
12, 500 
15, 300 
18, 700 
10, 300 
13, 500 
10, 800 
11,600 
9,500 



Proportion 
of tests 
within 10 
per cent of 
average. 



Proportion 

of testa 

within 25 

per cent of 



a Actual tests on "dry" material not reduced for moisture. 



KELATIONS OF WEIGHT AND STRENGTH. 

That within the same species the strength of wood varied with the dry weight (specific gravity), i. e., that 
the heavier .stick is the stronger, has been known for some time. That this law of variation held good not only for 
a given species, bnt irrespective of species for the four principal pines of our Southern States was indicated in 
Circular 12 of this Division. This fact becomes the more important in practical application, as the wood of these 
species of pines so far can not be distinguished at all by its anatomical structure and only with difficulty and 
uncertainty by other appearances, while in the lumber market substitution is not infrct^uent. It will therefore be 
best with these pines, where strength alone is desired, to inspect the material by weight (specific), other things 
being equal, disregarding species determination. 

While this result of the exhaustive series of tests reasonably well demonstrated for these pines may be 
considered of great practical Aalue, we can now extend the application of the law of relation between weight and 
strength a step farther, and state as an indication of our tests that probably In woods of uniform structure strength 
increases with specific weight, independently of species and genus distinction, i. e., other things being ec[ual, the 
heavier wood is the stronger. We arc at present inclined to state this important result with caution, only as a 
probability or indication, until either the test material and tests can be more closely scanned, or more carefully 
2)lanned and minutely executed series of detail tests can be carried on to confirm the truth of what the wholesale 
tests seem to have developed. 

In the following two diagrams the average strength of the different species in compression endwise and 
bending, as found in the preceding tables, has been plotted with reference to the dry weight as given in preceding 
table. 

Considering that these tests and weight determinations (especially the latter) were not carried on with that 
finesse which would be required for a scientific demonstration of a natural law, that other influences, as crossgrain, 
unknown defects, and moisture conditions may cloud the results, and that in the averaging of results undue consid- 
eration may have been given to weaker or stronger, heavier or lighter, material, the relaxation is exhibited even by 
this wholesale method with a remarltable degree of uniformity bordering on demonstration. 

An exception is apparent in the oaks in that they do not exhibit this relation of weight and strength with 
reference to other species, and also with less definiteness among the various sjiecies of oak in themselves. The 
structure of oak wood being exceedingly complicated and essentially different from that of tlio wood of all other 
species under consideration, it may reasonably be expected that it will not range itself with these. 



TIMBER PHYSICS STRENGTH AND WEIGHT. 



367 



Mesults of tests in lending^ at relative elastic limit. 
[Pounds per square iucli.] 




JS 40 4S 

"Weight ijer cubic foot in pounds. 

Fig. 95.— Eelation of strength in compression endwise to Tveight of materia!. The lig 

thereby represented. 



SO S5 oo 

at each point indicates the species 



368 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMEKT OF AC4RICULTURE. 

moo\ 



moo 



/7000 



moo 



/£P00 



7 uooo 



/3000 



/2000 



I' //ooo 



/oooo 



9000 



8000 



7000 



6^000 




,^o 



SS &0 



W 2S JO 35 ^O /^ 

Weight per cubic foot in pounds. 
Fig. 96.— Relation of weight to bending strength at rupture. The figure at each point indicates the species thereby 



TIMBER PHYSICS — UNIFORMITY OF STRENGTH. 



369 



In addition, the difficulty of seasouing oak without defects or even securing perfect material may liave influenced 
the results of tests so as to cloud the relationship with the genus. 

If further close study, supplemented by additional series of tests carefully devised to investigate this relation- 
ship, should uphold the truth of it, this result may be set down as the most important practical one that could be 
reached by these tests, for it would at once give into the hands of the wood consumer a means of determining the 
relative value of his material as to strength and all allied properties by a simple process of weighing the dry material; 
of course with due regard to the other disturbing factors like crossgrain, defects, coarseness of grain, etc. 

Results of tests in compression across grain {a) and shearing with grain. 
[Pounds per square inch..] 



Reduced to 15 per cent ■}iioisture. 



Longleaf pine. 

Cuban pine 

Shortleaf ]iine. 
Loblolly pine.. 



Reduced to 13 per cent moisture. 



White pine 

Ked pine 

Spruce pine 

Bald cypress 

"White cedar 

Douglas spruce 6. 

W.hit6oak 

Overcup oak 

Post oak 

Cow oak 

Red oak 







Shearing 






Compres- 


with 




ber of 

tests. 


graiu. 


grain not 
reduced 

for 
moisture. 


No. 


1,210 


1,000 


700 




400 


1,000 


700 


16 


330 


900 


700 


17 


690 


],0()0 


700 


18 
19 
20 
!>1 


130 


700 


400 


'?V, 


100 


1,000 


500 


K3 


175 


1,200 


800 


•M 


650 


800 


500 


V,5 


87 


700 


400 


;^fi 


41 


800 


500 


K7 


218 


2,200 


1,000 


2K 


216 


1,900 


1,000 


«!) 


49 


3,000 


1,100 


HO 


256 


1,900 


900 


31 


57 


2, 300 


1,100 


32 



Southern red oak. . 

"Black oak , 

"Water oak 

"Willow oak 

Spanish oak 

Shagback hickory. 
"White hickory . — 

"Water hickory 

Bitternut hickory. 
Nutmeg hickory .. 

Pecan hickory 

Pign at Ijickory 

"White ehn 

Cedar elm 

"White ash 

Green ash 

Sweet gum 



Num- 


Compres- 


Derof 












117 


2.000 


40 


1,800 


30 


2,000 


153 


1,600 


255 


1,800 


135 


2,700 


75 


3,100 


14 


2,400 


25 


2,200 


72 


2,700 


37 


2,800 


30 


3,200 


. 18 


1,200 


44 


2,100 


S7 


1,900 


10 
118 


1,700 
1,400 



Shearing 

with 
grain not 
reduced 



900 
900 
1,100 
1,100 
1,000 
1,000 
1,100 
1,200 
1,200 
800 
1,300 
1,100 
1,000 



ndentation of 3 per cent of the height of the specimen. 



& Actual tests on " dry " material not reduced for moisture. 



Having fully established tlie great influence of moisture on the strength of wood, the practi- 
tioner still needed information as to the rate and manner of drying and as to the way in which 
moisture is distributed during seasoning. Several thousand moisture determinations were made 
and it was established beyond doubt that moisture is generally least abundant at the ends, is 
quite evenly distributed throughout the length, but is not always uniform in different parts of the 
same cross section, often varying in this respect within astonishing ranges, so that the use of 
timber in a half-seasoned condition, and where uniform seasoning can not be obtained by the 
material, requires that these facts be duly considered in designing. 

Tests of Maximum Uniformity. 

Both in this country and abroad small differences in strength values were often interpreted 
as deciding for or against any given material. This same iiroblem arose also in every case where 
many results were to be compiled, and it seemed especially desirable once for all to find just how 
much uniformity could be expected of wood materials. From a large series of well-selected 
quarter-sawed pieces representing several kinds of pine, cypress, and hardwoods it was found 
that even contiguous blocks, 2.J inches long, may differ by as much aS 2 to 4 per cent in conifers 
and as much as 13 per cent in oak, and that in a scantling only 6 feet long the butt might differ from 
the top by 10 to 20 per cent in conifers and over 35 per cent in oak. This extremely valuable set 
of results throws much light upon discussions of the past, and is well suited to show that many 
boastful claims rested on very flimsy and entirely unreliable differences, such as might well be 
accounted for by a little more extended examination of materials. It will also assist in judging 
test results in the future and help to avoid useless controversy and prejudice. The following 
more fully illustrates the results of this series : 

Scantlings of air-dry material, 6 to 10 feet long, of white pine, longleaf pine, tuliptree (poplar), and white oak, 
and of perfectly green material of loblolly pine and cypress, fresh from the saw, were cut partly into blocks 2 by 2 
by 2| inches, but mostly into cubes of 2f inches. All material was quarter sawed, carefully jirepared, and in all 
cases treated alike, either perfectly green or dried together at the same temperature. Altogether 529 tests in 
endwise compression were made, namely, 100 on white piue, 72 on longleaf pine, 99 on loblolly pine, 40 on white 
oak, 115 on tuliptree (poplar), 103 on cypress. 
H. Doc. 181 24 



370 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS V. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 



From these tests the following table of averages is derived, together with fig. 97: 
Average of tests for maximum nniformiiy. 



"White pine (Plrnis atrobus) 

Longleaf pine (Pinna paluatris) 

Tuliptree (poplar) (Liriodendron tulipifei;9.) 

■White oak (Quercus alba) 

Loblolly pine (Pinna taeda) 

Cypress (Taxodium distichum) 



Yard dry. 
125+ (green). 
125 + (green). 



Average 
.strength oi" 
all pieces. 



4,900 
10, 800 
6,010 



Greatest difference in 
strength between adjoin- 
ing pieces. 



Greatest dif- 
ference in en- 
tire scantling. 



It will he observed that green cypress excelled in its uniformity; that green loblolly proves not more uniform 
than dry white and longleaf pine; that wood of the conifers far excel even the tuliptree (poplar) with its uniform 
grain and texture; and that oak, as might be expected, is the least uniform. It will also be noticed that even in 
one and the same short scantling (6 to 10 feet) of select quarter-sawed longleaf pine differences of 10 per cent may 
occur, and that in all others these differences were even greater. 

Incidentally in this and the following experiment a small number of the blocks were thoroughly oven-dried 
(to about 2 per cent moisture), and it was found that the strength of both cypress and loblolly was increased by 
about 150 per cent during drying, so that wood at 2 per cent is about two and one-half times as strong as perfectly 
green or soaked material; and also that drying from 8 to 10 per cent to tlie lowest attainable moisture condition 
(1 to 2 per cent) still adds about 25 per cent to the strength of the wood. 

In the following diagram and table a part of the results are presented in detail : 




glOCKA/mfff/?:/ 3 S 7 9 // /3 /S /7 /9 2/ 23 25 

Fio. 97. — Strength of contiguous blocks, showing maximum uniformity of select quarter-sawed material in compression endwise. 



TIMBER PHYSICS — VARIATION IK STRENGTH. 



371 



strength of contiguous Mocks of the same scantling, select material, in compression endtvise. 
[Dimensions generally, 2.76 by 2.7G by 2.76 incbes.] 



Number of blocks 



Kind of -wood. 



Wbite 
pine (3 
per cent 
mois- 
ture). 



Lougleaf 
pine (8 
per cent 



Loblolly 

pine 
(125+per 

cent 

ture). 



Tulip- 
tree (8 
per cent 
mois- 
ture). 



Oak 
(yard 
dry). 



Pounds per square inch. 



11, 580 
11, 580 
11, 310 
11,000 
8,250 
10,740 
11, 180 
11, 230 

10, 980 
11, 130 
11,510 
11,490 

11, 320 
11, 220 
11,320 
11,340 
11,470 

10, 790 
10, 740 
11, 030 
11, 110 

11, 450 

12, 250 
12, 760 
10, 740 
10, 350 
10, 280 
10, 150 

9,860 
10, 000 
10, 120 
10, 370 
10, 320 
10, 250 
10, 400 
10, 050 
10, 050 
10, 350 
10, 100 
10, 030 
9,970 
9,880 
10.050 
10, 220 
10, 470 
10, 860 
10, 590 
10,350 
11,150 
10, 970 
10,890 



2,380 
2,450 
a 6, 700 
2,600 
2.080 
2,640 
2,720 
a 6, 970 
2,770 
2, 7:io 
2, 780 
2,800 

a5,8J0 
2,880 
2,870 
2,870 
2,860 

a 6, 480 
2,760 
2,760 
2,720 
2,640 

a7,050 
2,680 
2, 6.50 
2,650 
2,780 

a 7, 320 
2,730 
2, 780 
2,720 
2,660 

a 5, 360 
2,610 
2,560 
2,580 
2,580 

tt 5, 220 
2,620 
2,600 
2,640 
2,610 

a 6, 440 
2,020 
2, G20 
2, 600 
2,680 

a 0,440 
2,710 



2,720 
2,700 
2.720 
2,680 
2,680 
2,720 
2,770 
2,820 



3,020 
3,070 
3,099 
3,120 
3,170 
3,140 
3,090 



3,490 
3, 520 
3,570 



4,170 
4,190 
4,170 
4,180 
4,200 
4,180 
4,230 



4,230 
4,180 
4,130 
4,160 
4,160 
4,160 
4,110 
4,090 
4,070 



5,740 
5,700 
5,770 
5,700 
6,430 
5,430 
5,420 
5,560 
6,440 
17,070 
5,770 
6,030 
6,170 
6,840 
6,440 
5,360 



10, 790 


2, 750 


10, 970 


2, 760 


11,040 


2,720 


10,940 


a 6, 850 


10, 970 


2,710 


10, 840 


2,680 


10.710 


2, 660 


10, 890 


2,660 


10, 710 


O7,030 



5,920 
5,930 
5,770 
5,780 
6.120 
6,480 
6,310 
6,220 
6,310 
1 7, 420 
6,340 
6,360 
6,040 



6,910 
7,340 
7,870 



9,030 
8,660 
8,060 
7,740 
7,580 
8,400 
8,710 
8,060 



6,280 
6.490 
6,610 
6,220 
6,190 
I 7, 300 
6,010 
6,140 
6,170 
6,010 
6,490 



7,280 
7,510 
7,510 
8.080 
9, 030 
8,790 
8,640 
8, 560 
8,780 



6, 080 
5,800 
6,110 

b7, 920 
6,210 
6,270 
6,300 
6,420 
6,450 
6,170 
6,440 
6,340 
8,310 

a7, 510 



aDried to about 2 per cent moisture before testing. 

As was indicated at the outset and is fully explained in Bulletins 6 and 8, the plan of this 
investigation also included among the objects to be sought the establishment of the following: 

(1) The relative value of each species. 

(2) The outward signs or physical and structural properties, easily used in inspection. 

(3) The relation of the properties among themselves; and 

(4) Their relation to the conditions under which the wood is formed, such, for instance, as the 
age of the tree when wood is laid on, influences of soil, climate, etc. 

As has been explained, some of these relations were more or less fully determined, at least, 
qualitatively; nevertheless, the relation of the several forms of resistance, as well as the mutual 
relations of the properties in general, seemed to escape observation in the manner of inquiry 
generally pursued. It became clear before long that these laws must be established by special 
series, planned each to seek answer to some specific question. Several of these were carried out, 



372 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 

and, thouga little more was accomplished than to find proper ways, the study of these results, 
amplified by the largo ordinary series, led to several interesting discoveries, the most important 
of which is the discovery of the relation between the strength in cross bending at elastic limit 
and the compression endwise, this latter being equal to the fiber stress of the former. Though 
still requiring special experiments to become convincing, it is fair to state at this point that a 
great deal of useless testing will be saved in the future, since the test in compression is by all 
means the simplest, the selection and treatment of the material for it the easiest, and the result 
the most satisfactory. The importance of this discovery by Mr. S. T. Neely is such that a reprint 
of Mr. Neely's discussion here will be found justified. 

Relation op Compression-endwise Strength to Breaking Load of Beam. 

In testing timber to obtain its various coefficients of strengtb, tbe test which is at once the simplest, most 
expedient, satisfactory, and reliable is the "compression-endwise test," which is made by crushing a specimen 
parallel to the fibers. All other tests are either mechanically less easily performed, or else, as in the case of cross- 
bending, the stresses are complex, and the unit coefficient can be expressed only by reliance upon a theoretical 
■formula, the correctness of which is in doubt. It would, therefore, be of great practical value to find a relation 
between the cross-bending strength, the most important coefficient for the practitioner, and the compression strength, 
when the study of wood would not only be greatly simplified and cheapened, but the data could be applied with 
much greater satisfaction and safety. 

The consideration of such a relation resolves itself naturally into two parts, namely, a study of the relation ot 
the internal stresses in a beam to the external load which produces them, and a study of the relation of the internal 
stresses in a beam to the compression-endwise strength of the material of which the beam is made. 

The first relation has been a subject of study for more than two centuries, and from the time of Galileo down to 
the present day the theory of beams has been gradually evolved. Within recent years several eminent physicists 
aud engineers have given a true analysis of both the elastic and ultimate streugth of a beam, a clear exposition of 
which is made by Prof. J. B. Johnson in his work on Modern Framed Structures. He points out that the "ordinary 
equation " for obtaining the extreme fiber stresses, when the external load and dimensions of the beam are given, is 
not applicable to a beam strained beyond its elastic limit ; and he follows this statement with a discussion of the true 
distribution of internal stresses in a beam at time of rupture, and with a " Rational equation for the moment of 
resistance at rupture," devised by M. Saint- Venant, which really does connect the extreme fiber stress in a bent beam 
with the compression-endwise strength and also with the tension strength. Professor Johnson's final conclusion, 
however, is that for practical use the " ordinary formula" may be applied to a beam at rupture, providing the fiber 
stress involved is obtained from cross-bending tests ; and this is the present practice among engineers. 

RELATION OF INTERNAL STRESSES. 

Assume for the discussion of the relation of internal stresses to external load the simple conditions of a beam 
of rectangular cross section loaded at the middle. 

Regarding the distribution of internal stresses, it must be agreed that the neutral plane lies in the center of the 
beam so long as the beam is loaded within the elastic limit ; this follows from the fact that the modulus of elasticity 
is the same whether derived from compression tests or from tension tests (i. e., Ec ^ Et), as proved by experiments 
of Niirdlinger, Bauschinger, Tetmayer, and others. 

Since the distortion of any given fiber in the beam is proportional to its distance from the neutral plane, the 
distribution of stresses in a longitudinal section of a beam loaded up to its elastic limit may be represented by the 
following diagram, in which the vertical scale represents increments of distortion and the horizontal scale the fiber 
stresses. 

In this diagram the angle a = angle Z>, since Ec = Et; and furthermore, since these latter quantities arc each 
equal to the modulus of elasticity obtained from cross-bending tests (according to the same authorities), this angle 
a (or 6) can be obtained by platting the results of the cross-bending test itself. 

It is a well-established fact that the tension strength of wood is much greater than the compression strength, 
and also, as shown by the German experimenters quoted, that the elastic limit in either case is not reached until 
shortly before the ultimate strength. Furthermore, it seems reasonable to suppose, and is essential to the construc- 
tion of the above diagram, that the true elastic limit of the be.am (shown on the strain diagram of a beam at the 
point where it ceases to be a straight line) is reached at the same instant that the elastic limit of the extreme com- 
pression fiber is reached ; for when the loading is continued beyond this latter condition the line GO must begin to 
cur\e upward (since the proportion of load to distortion on that side begins to increase more rapidly), while the line 
OT continues in its original direction. Therefore, in order to maintain the equilibrium, the whole distribution of 
stresses will necessarily be changed, the position of the neutral axis will be lowered, and these changes will, of 
course, show an effect on the deflection of the beam. 

Now, even at rupture the proportionality of fiber distortion to distance from neutral axis is maintained (because 
a plane cross section will always remain a plane), and therefore the distribution of internal stresses just at the point 
of rupture can be represented by a diagram similar to fig. 99, in which, as before, the vertical scale represents incre. 
ments of distortion and the horizontal scale fiber stresses. The fibers on either side of the neutral plane are under 
stresses which vary from zero at the neutral plane to the maximum stress in the extreme fiber, changing in proportion 



TIMBER PHYSICS — RELATION OP CRUSHING TO BENDING. 



373 



as the increments of load in the test machine vary. Therefore, the distribution of stresses on the compression side 
of the neutral plane will he shown by an ordinary strain diagram for compression, and on the tension side by a 
similar tension-strain diagram. Unfortunately there are no reliable diagrams of these kinds now on record. The 
compression pieces tested have usually been too short to afford reliable measurements of distortion, and, owiug to 
structural and mechanical difiSculties, satisfactory tension tests seem to be impossible. 



.ST^£SS£S /A/ WOO IBS. 
a / 2 3 ^ S 6 



,, STRESSES /A/ WOO IBS. 
U. / 23 4-S6769/0// 




/_,/ 2 3 4 S 6 

.—Relation of fiber stresses and distortions. 




/ 2 3 'f S 6 7 8 S'/ /O'y/ 

9 — Distribution of internal stresses in a beam at rupture. 



Experience in testing, however, has taught that when a piece of green wood is tested in lompression it will 
undergo a great distortion after the maximum load has been applied without actually breaking down — in fact, while 
sustaining the same load. A piece tested in tension, on the other hand, breaks suddenly as 9oon is the maximum 
load is applied. A beam in failing may, therefore, sustain an increasing load long after the extreme compression 
fiber has been loaded to its ultimate strength; the fibers on the compression side continue to be mashed down, 
while the neutral plane is lowered and the stress in the tension fiber increases until, very often in practice, the beam 
"fails in tension." With these facts and 



,, rORC£S 
W. / 2 3 4? S 



<5 7 



WOO LBS. 
J3 9 JO // /S 



observations before us it is possible to con- 
struct a diagram so that it will represent, 
approximately, at least, the distribution of 
internal stresses in a beam at rupture. (See 
fig. 100.) 

In this figure OA represents the position 
of neutral plane at time of rupture, OU the 
distortion in the extreme compression fiber, 
UC the stress on same fiber, OL the distor- 
tion in extreme tension fiber, and LT the 
stress on that fiber. 

It can readily be seen that the manner 
of breaking will influence slightly the form 
of this diagram. If the beam fails in com- 
pression before the tension fiber reaches its 
elastic limit the line OT will be straight as 
shown, otherwise the line will assume some 
such position as Oi,T, (diagram 99), in which 
Z, is the elastic limit in tension. 

From the approximate distribution of 
internal stresses their relation to the external 
load may be determined. The two funda- 
mental equations — (1) that the sum of inter- 
nal stresses on the tension side equals the sum 

of internal stresses on the compression side, and (2) that the sum of the external moments equals the sum of the inter- 
nal moments — apply at the time of rupture as well as at the elastic limit. From (1) it follows that area OUCZ := area 
OLT, and the position of the neutral plane at rupture is thereby fixed. If now the line LU be assumed to represent 
the depth of the beam in inches instead of indicating the distortion of the fibers, the sum of the internal moments 
about the point O is found by multiplying the area of either the compression or tension diagram by the sum of the 
distances of their respective centers of gravity from the neutral plane. By putting this sum equal to the moment 
of the external load about the same point O the first relation is established. 




^'-Z 2 3 '^ S 6 7 8 9 JD // /2 

Tig. 100. — Position of neutral axis and internal stresses at rupture of beam. 



374 ■ FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

RELATION OF CRDSHING-ENDWISE STKBNGTH. 

The second relation (that of crushing-endwise strength to internal stresses) -was touched upon in discussing the 
first, when it was stated: (1) That the true elastic limit of the beam is proljably reached at the same instant that 
the extreme fibers on the compression side reach their elastic limit in compression. (2) That this latter limit lies 
close to the ultimate compression-c-ndwise strength (so close that former experimenters have been unable satisfactorily 
to separate them). (3) That a piece of green wood will stand a great deal of distortion after the ultimate load is 
applied before actually failing. And to these statements may be added the evident fact (4) that the stress on any 
fiber on the compression side cau not exceed the compressiou-eudwise strength of the material. (5) Finally and 
most important it appears from (1) and (2), but especially from an examination of the several thousand test results 
on the several species of conifers made by the Division of Forestry, that the extreme fiber stress at the true elastic 
limit of a beam is practically identical with the compression-endwise strength of the material. (This last observa- 
tion, which was forced upon the writer by its continual repetition in the large series of tests under review, lies at 
the basis of this discussion.) The observation of this identity makes the distribution of internal stresses appear 
more simple than was hitherto assumed, aJnd the desired relation between compression and cross-bending strength 
capable of mathematical expression. 

DEVELOPMENT OF FORMULAE. 

From these considerations the distance UC in fig. 100, which represents the ultimate compression-endwise 
strength of the material, becomes practically equal to the distance el, which represents the compression strength at 
the true elastic limit, and hence the line IC straight and vertical ; and if OT is taken as straight, the diagram will 
be made up of simple geometric figures, as in fig. 100. 

The line LU will represent the total fiber distortion at time of rupture, and is equal to the sum of the amounts 
by which the extreme compression fibers shorten and the extreme tension fibers elongate. 

Let a test in which the following quantities have been observed and recorded be considered: 

Let Pr^the external load at rupture (pounds). 

^r = the corresponding deflection of the beam (inches). 
C ^ compression-endwise strength of the material (pounds). 
E = modulus of elasticity (pounds). 
d = depth of beam (inches). 
6 ^breadth of beam (inches). 
?^ length of beam (inches), 
^e = deflection at true elastic limit. 

Then, based upon the above statements, by means of formulas derived from the geometric relations of the diagram 
and the fundamental equations of equilibrium, the following (xuantities can be calculated : 

Let Ee = total fiber distortion due to bending at true elastic limit (inches). 

Er = total fiber distortion due to bending at rtipture = LU (inches). 

<Jp = distortion in extreme tension fiber at rupture = L0 (inches); also the proportional dis- 
tance of ueutraj plane from tension side of beam. 

^■=rea] distance of neutral plane at rupture from tension side of beam (inches). 

(?t. = real distance of neutral plane at rupture from that fiber on compression side which has 
just reached the elastic limit, in inches = 0e. 

T:= stress in extreme tension fiber (pounds). 

T„ = 8um of forces on tension side = area OLT (pounds). 

Cit=isum of forces on compression side = area OUCl (pounds). 

(it = distance of center of gravity of tension area from neutral plane (inches). 

dc = distance of center of gravity of compression area from neutral plane (inches). 

Mr = 8um of the internal moments about the point O (inch-pounds). 

The formulas connecting these quantities are derived as follows: 

To find Ee let fig. 101 represent a portion of the beam one unit in length bent to its elastic 
limit; then, 

Fig. 10] Fiber dis- ^ ^ 

tortion in unit 

length of beam, at where r is the radius of curvature, but from fundamental formulas true at elastic limit 
elastic limit. • ^ , , , 

_1 _ m_j;«^_12^ _ 12zfe<? 

V-""-EI~'4ET~ P .-. (l)Ee— p ■ 

Since this involves only geometric relations, it is true also at rupture (since the beam iireserves its original form). 

To find (f p and T : 

Since the sum of stresses on the tension side = sum of stresses on compression side, 

the area OLT = area OVCl .-. y T = (EV — dp) C — -^ and T = i^^ 



TIMBER PHYSICS — RELATION OP CRDSHING TO BENDING, 



375 



from the similar triangle OLT aud Oel (fig 



100), 



Ee, 



whence, 



(3) dp=i/ErXEe — -9-' 



(4) T = j 



and after dp is found, T can be obtained : 
dpC 

Now, when the vertical line LIT is assumed to represent the real depth of the beam in inches = d, every verti- 
cal measure will be changed in the ratio j^ (see tig. 102) ; whence, 

(5) d. = |^<Jp ^ O 
(real distance of neutral plane from tension side) . 

(6) d„ = ig^E„ 

(■J because Ee total distortion, while Aa is the distance 
on one side of the neutral plane). 

The area OLT would then become : 

drT 

(7) Ta = -.,-, and the area OUCi = 



(8) Ca=((i! — (i!r)C — (|xC) 

(Ca must equal T»). 

The distance of centers of gravity would be : 

(9) dt = #(«., 

d — d, , (Je 
(10) dc = — 2-' + f> 

and the sum of internal moments. 











A 

i 








1 


I 


^ 


d 


./-"^"n^ N£UT/?AL 


PlANf 


^"^-^^^^ 




1 


^"^--^^^ 




I 




Y"^-^ Y 



FiQ. 102. — I'ositiou of neutral plane at rupture. 



T 



(11) iUr= (Cadc + T„(?t)J, and since C'a = Ta, hence J/r=Ca(d<, + dt)6. 

But since the sum of internal moments equals the sum of external moments : 

-^- = ifr = Ca((ic+(?t)6. 

And since Pr is the breaking load of the beam, and Ca involves only the compression endwise strength and lineal 
dimensions, we have a formula directly connecting the breaking load of a beam with the compression strength.' 

Application of these formulw. — Unfortunately no tests have been made to study the application of these formulte 
directly and in particular. The tests on beams published in this circular were made for a different purpose. For 
the purpose of ascertaining the correctness of the formula} only the tests made on large beams have been utilized, 
since in these the deflections were specially accurately measured. In addition to the quantities to be calculated 
already given in this discussion, the fiber stress at the true elastic limit is also calculated, and called Se, to be 
compared with C, and the load producing it, Pe, is also set down as an observed quantity. If the modulus of 

S P 
rupture, K, has already been calculated by the "ordinary formula," Se can be obtained from the relation^ ^^P" ""^^ 

(12) Se = ^R. 

The modulus of elasticity at true elastic limit E„ is recomputed as a check, and of course is : ' 

(13) E,=j|^. 

Since Pe is an arbitrary quantity within certain limits, and can not bo determined with any degree of accuracy, 
Se will be found to dift'er more or less from C. For these reasons, however, C is a more reliable value for the true 
elastic limit than Se itself, and in the formuUe is used as such; for instance, E'eis the fiber distortion produced by the 
same load which produces a fiber 8tress=C, not by the load which produces Se. 

The following table exhibits the results of applying the formulai to, the data from these tests : 

['The factors d^+dt, within such limits as the cross-bending strength is constant, are constants; they will have 
to be ascertained by actual experiment for each species and quality, and might then be expressed as a proportion of 
the depth. In the material used, pine as well as oak, it appears to be about 3/5. The material on which this rela- 
tionship has been mainly studied was green wood, and it may be questioned whether the factors <?„ and dt would 
remain the same in material of all moisture conditions. There is no logic which would lead us to expect a difference 
greater than the limits of "maximum uniformity," i. e., 10 per cent. A few comparisons of data obtained from 
material of other species witlj varying moisture percentage indicate that a difference does not exist,— B, E, F.] 



376 



FOBESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



g 

-£ 

9 

1 


Distance 
from neu- 
tral plane 
of center of 
gravity. 


-B9JTJ QoisBajdmoo JO 


^• 


5 


3.99 
4.03 
4.14 
4.05 
4.03 
3.94 
4.03 
4.03 
4.10 
4.05 
4.23 
4.13 
4.21 


•uejB aoisn9:^ jo 


- 


3.23 
3.13 
2.97 
3.24 
3.33 
3.34 
3.63 
3.26 
3.54 
3.53 
2.73 
3.32 
3.07 


III 

M3e2 


•apts not669Jdnio9 uo 


d 


i 


23, 300 
22, 760 
27, 400 

24, 000 

25, 010 
24, 900 
22, 000 

27, 600 
30, 500 
18, 000 

22, 200 

28, lUO 

23, 600 


-opts noisno; uq 


H 


23, 400 

23, 063 
27, 100 

24, 000 
24, 800 
24, 600 
22, 700 
27, 600 
30, 600 
18, 000 

22, 600 
28, IOO 

23, 900 


noisag^ 9in9i)X9 jo ainidn.! %v ssgj'jg 


E-i 


£.3 


9,700 
9,810 
12, 200 
9,800 
9,920 
9,820 
8,350 
11, 300 
11, 500 
6,780 
11,000 
11,330 
10, 400 


Real dis- 
tance of 
neutral 
plane at 
rupture. 


■JtUltl OJ^SUIB P91I0U9J 

^snf euq nonjAv opis aois 
-S9jdni0i) uo -laqij luq^t uioj^i 


-5 


,a 


3.86 
3.44 
1.47 
1.93 
2.01 
2.27 
2.84 
1.92 
2.46 
2.60 
1.14 
1.96 
1.53 


•ureaq JO opts nojsngj nioj j 


•a 


4.85 
4.70 
4.45 
4.86 
5.00 
6.01 
5.45 
4.90 
6.32 
6.30 
4.10 
4.98 
4.60 


!(B J9(m noieuaj buibjixb ni uojjjojsiq; 


- 


0. 0049 
0. 0075 
0, 0089 
0.0068 
0.065 
0. 0064 
0. 0047 
0. 0009 
0. 0067 
0. 0051 
0.0106 
0. 0076 
0. 0076 


•fttrati 
oi^SEp gnj} )i! jC)topsi't9 jo enpipoTO 


H 


o . 


1,752 
1,373 
1,030 
1,400 
1,570 
1,703 
2,000 
1,070 
1,718 

1,042 

1,828 
1,480 


■ .is 

la 

Ifl 


-o.iu'jdiij ^Y 


W 


^ 


0. 0120 
0.019 
0. 0240 
0. 0168 
0. 0158 
0. 0160 
0.0104 
0.0172 
0. 0165 
0.0116 
0.0310 
0.0187 
0. 0200 


-itpmi 0!^SE[9 }Y 


H 


0. 0039 
0. 0055 
0. 0059 
0. 0054 
0. 0053 
0. 0058 
0. 0046 
0. 0055 
0. 0062 
0.050 
0. 0059 
0. 0060 
0. 0050 


•4iraT[ oi^e^ia enjj ijt' q^Saaj^e Snipaag: 


»5 


-a 


c^ fyi" ^" ■* ■^' ■*■*-"■*" i.-£" ws" ©i" ws" '>^ 


•ajn^tJnj %v 
^atod jnoqB sjagraom tT3aja:jni jo rang 


a 


— o5^ 




1 
1 
.& 

1 
g 
1 
•a 

■s 


inoqB e^-uouiora t'cnaaijxo jo tune ^un^o^v" 


fir 






•^imii oi^jSBp Qnj;^ ^b aoi^oogaij; 


< 


.d 


SSSSgS^KSgggS 


•^lutri or^e-Bio ghj; ^-b pBo^; 


p^ 


.a 


13, 000 

13, 300 

19, OUO 
17, 000 
17, OoO 
16, 000 
16, 000 
16, 000 

20, 000 
12, 000 

9,000 
20,000 

14, 000 


<4-. 

R 


■qipEOja 


.a 


.a 


7.87 

8.2 

8.0 

8.0 

8.1 

7.9 

8.0 

7.95 

8.1 

7.96 

8.0 

8.0 

8.37 


■q»d9cr 




11.87 

11.9 

12.0 

12.0 

12.1 

11.75 

12.06 

12.0 

12.3 

12.1 

12.0 

12. 25 

12.26 


» -q^Sugi 


~ 


192.0 
216.0 
192.0 
192.0 
192.0 
216.0 
216.0 
216.0 
216.0 
216.0 
192.0 
216.0 
216.0 


•gjn^dnj iv uoB09g9C[ 


< 


3.10 
6.24 
6.16 
4.31 
4.06 
4.86 
3.36 
6.57 
4.90 
3.76 
7.94 
5.93 
6.70 


•^iT0i'jSB[9 JO sninpon 


H 


Ii 


1,711 
1,4S3 
1,030 
1,340 
1,540 
1,703 
2,017 
1,718 
1,713 
1,320 
1,646 
1,825 
1,485 


■gjnadnj (ju p^oi 


fC 


3 


28, 000 

23, 500 
32, 800 

29, 400 
29, 800 

24, 500 
26,400 
27, -240 
33, 550 
18, 700 

25, 800 
31, 500 

26, 000 


•q^Saaj'je Sntpugg 


K 




7,360 
6,670 
8,300 
7,440 
7,320 
7,410 
7,450 
7,710 
8,850 
5,300 
6,670 
8,640 
0,870 


•qijSnoj^B osmpno HoiBSMdmoo 


o 


P..3 
►4 " 


3,850 
3,590 
4,030 
3,900 
4,100 
4,450 
4,350 
4,500 
5.300 
3,330 
3,030 
4, 460 
3,470 




-CQCOq }0 J9CI 


mnnp 


mSpo 


■-tCvl fH r-, N CO CO Ttt in 


=0 






1 

i 






P 
P. 

1 


p 


a 


R 


i 


R 


fl 


BJU'O 
3^M 


fl 





TIMBER PHYSICS — METHODS. 



377 



In order to see how far the formuliB may be applicable to beams of the same material the data obtained on the 
small beams cut from one of the large beams were subjected to scrutiny, basing the calculations on the data from 
the adjoining compression block. The calculated result compared with the actual breaking load showed a most 
convincing similarity, as will be apparent from the table herewith presented: 

Strength of small beams, calculated iy Neeh/s fomiulai from compression strength, on the assumption that the relative 
position of the neutral plane at rupture is the same as found in large beams. 

[Shortleaf pine, large beam No. 13, special series. 1 



— 


Data observed in testing. 








Hesolts calculated by Neel; 


's formuliB. 












.^ 






«> 




Eeal dis- 


a 






Distance 











Dimensions of 
beams. 


c 








a 


tance of 
neutral 


a 


Sums of forces 
for unit -width 


from neu- 
tr,il plane 


.*3 








^ 






!^g 


■^ 


plane at 


.£ 


of beam. 


of center of 


a, 












Ti 






•S"! 




rupture. 


a 






gravity. 


a 




.i 
















£ a 






■ -tJ 


® 










.a 




a 










II 


i 


£ 


la 


P 


i 


£.1 
p. . 

ill 


■s| 








, 


it 

aS 


a 


1 












-w 


11 


1 


g 


ifi 


a 


i 


i 


i 


1 


1 


^j 


s 


.a 


3 


s 


tu 


a 


Ti 




M 


1 
a 




« 


1 


a, 

a 


s 


£ 
a, 


=M 




•2 














































































1 
a 


hi 


P 


« 


« 


o 


O 


Kl 


« 


1^ 


'f\ 


03 








.0 







tA 


fi 


I 


d 


b 


E 


c 


P 


P, 


s. 


d. 


d. 


T 


T. 


c. 


dt 


do 


Mr 


P. 


Ae 


Inches. 


Lbs. pe 


rsq.iD. 


Lbs. 


Lbs .per 
sq. in. 


Inches. 


Lbs.per 
aq.in. 


Lbs. 


Lbs. 


Inches. 


Inch 
pounds. 


Lbs. 


Inch. 


3 


50 


3.51 


3.56 


7, 3.iO 


4,430 


1 
4,.-J00 


4,708 


3,760 


1.46 


1.23 


10,517 


7,677 


7,719 


0.97 


1.18 


58, 760 ■ 


2,200 


0.296 


H 


M 


3.75 


3.37 


7,910 


4,610 


.5,0«0 


5,.{IO 


4,430 


1.56 


1.31 


10, 979 


8,564 


8,562 


1.04 


1.26 


66, 380 


2,800 


0.391 


4 


M 


3.55 


3.60 


7,790 


4,5«0 


4.710 


.1,037 


3,969 


1.48 


1.24 


10,885 


8,055 


8,026 


0.99 


1.19 


63, 216 


2,400 


0.413 


5 


m 


3.49 


3.50 


8,230 


4.070 


4,eso 


4,J03 


4,220 


1.45 


1.22 


9,675 


7,014 


7,061 


0.97 


1.17 


52, 535 


2,400 


0.345 


() 


r.d 


3.58 


3.54 


7,750 


4,l.iO 


l.fi»0 


4, .571 


4,296 


1.49 


1,25 


9,894 


7,371 


7,376 


0.99 


1.20 


57,144 


2,600 


0.356 


7 


.% 


3.53 


3.50 


7,810 


4,l(i(l 


4,.j40 


4,420 


4,129 


1.47 


1.23 


9,943 


7, 30S 


7,290 


0.98 


1.18 


55, 248 


2,400 


0.431 


H 


5il 


3.5G 


3.54 


7,470 


3,S70 


4,4ro 


4,.178 


4,178 


1.48 


1.25 


9,164 


7,381 


6,840 


0.99 


1.20 


57, 222 


2,500 


0.440 


n,9 


5(1 


3.52 


3.54 


5, 13U 


3,SS0 


:$,ooo 


4,109 


3,078 


1.47 


1.23 


9,274 


6,810 


6,751 


0.98 


1.18 


52,118 


1,800 


0.328 


Id 


fto 


3.52 


3.45 


7,510 


3,680 


4,aso 


3,S.54 


3,860 


1.47 


1.23 


8,796 


6,465 


6,403 


0.98 


1.18 


48, 177 


2,200 


0.387 


11 


.■)() 


3.47 


3.52 


6,370 


3,7.iO 


S,600 


3,312 


3.893 


1.44 


1.21 


8,926 


6,427 


6,485 


0.96 


0.87 


41,400 


2,200 


0.372 


12 


50 


3.48 


3.54 


6,580 


3,540 


3,760 


3,«97 


3,395 


1.45 


1.22 


8,415 


6,101 


6,124 


0.97 


I.IV 


46, 219 


1,940 


0.300 



!NOTE. — Columns of figur 



a Failed, due to knot. 
I same distinctive type to be compared one with the other. 



On the whole, it is in no way boastful to assert that this work has already furnished prac- 
tical data enough to more than pay the expenses incurred ten times over; that its fruits are not 
half gathered, and that for more than a quarter of a century its results will serve as a basis for 
the user of wood and as the guide to the teacher and experimenter. 

Development of the Science op Timber Physics and Methods Employed in the 

Investigation. 

Since the elaborate plan and methods of this study of our woods denotes an entirely new 
departure in timber investigations, at least in our country, it is only fitting to i:)lace the credit for 
its conception, for the elaboration of the plan, the organization of the work, and the persistent 
prosecution of the same in spite of many drawbacks and lack of support. This credit belongs to 
Dr. B. E.Fernow, chief of the Division of Forestry. The plan was first foreshadowed in his second 
report (1887, p. 37) as chief of that division, and the word "timber physics" was there used for 
the first time, and the essentials of the future plan were there discussed. In a small tentative 
manner the first steps to put it in operation were made in 1888. In. the report for 1889 we read : 

The investigations into the technology of our timbers and especially into the conditions upon which the qual- 
ities of our timbers depend — for which Mr. Roth of Ann Arbor has begun preliminary studies — has also made but 
slow progress for lack of means. 

In the report for 1890 we find, besides an account of the tests on Northern and Southern oaks 
referred to before, the statement that "by the increase of appropriations the forest technological 
investigations referred to in former rejjorts have become possible on a scale which was hitherto 
unattainable," and a description of the plans is given. But the first fuller statement of the 



378 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

developineut of the investigation and its methods was not publislied until 1892, in Bulletin 6, in 
which Mr. Feruow described the aims, objects, and methods at length. 
In the report for 1890 the following language is used: 

TIMBER TESTS. 

AVhile the use of wood pulp and other substitutes may displace in many ways the use of wood in its natural 
state, there will always be desirable qualities inherent in the latter that make its use indispensable. Hence the 
desirability of knowing the qualities of our timbers and, if possible, of knowing the conditions under which the 
wood crop will develop the desirable qualities. 

Much work and useful work is done in the world by the rule of thumb. All such work is not reliable and 
certainly not economical. With the need of greater economy in production, the need of more accurate measuring 
arises, and Avith that the need of more specific knowledge of the materials to be measured. 

Wood is one of the materials which has been measured by the rule of thumb longer than others. Iron and 
other metals used in the arts have their properties much more accurately determined than wood material. Especially 
in the United States, when we speak of quality of our timbers, it can only be in general terms ; we lack definite data. 

One difficulty in determining reliably the qualities of our timbers lies in the fact that living things are rarely 
precisely alike. Every tree differs from every other tree, and the material taken from the one has a dift'erent value 
from that taken from the other of the same species. Yet every tree has some characteristics in common with all 
those grown under similar conditions. But even these common properties differ in degree in different individuals. 
Individual variation tends to obscure relationship. 

The factors which determine the quality of timbers are found directly in the structure of the wood, and it is 
possible from a mere ocular examination to judge to some extent what (jualities may be expected from a given piece 
of timber, although even in this direction our knowledge is very incomplete, and but few definite relations between 
structure and quality, or between physical and mechanical properties, are established. We know that the width of 
the annual rings, their even growth, the closeness of grain, the length, number, thickness, and distribution of the 
various cell elements, the weight, and many other physical appearances and properties of the wood influence its 
quality, yet the exact relation of these is but little studied. Conjectures more or less plausible, suppositions, and a 
few practical experiences preponderate over positive knowledge and results of experiments. Again we know, in a 
general way, that structure and composition of the wood must depend upon the conditions of soil, climate, and 
surroundings under which the tree is grown, but there are only few definite relations established. We are largely 
in-norant as to the nature of our wood crop, and still more so as to the conditions necessary to i)roduce desirable 
qualities, and since forestry is not so much concerned in producing trees as in producing quality in trees, to acquire 
or at least enlarge this knowledge must be one of the first and most desirable undertakings in which this Division 
can engage. 

Accordingly a comprehensive jilan has been put into operation to study systematically our more important 
timber trees. 

It will at once bo understood that as long as the qualities are to be referred to the conditions under which the 
tree is grown, the collection of the study material must be made with the greatest care, and the material must be 
accompanied with an exhaustive descrijitiou of these conditions. Since, further, so much individual variation seems 
to exist in troes grown under seemingly the same conditions, a large number must be studied in order to arrive at 
reliable average values. For the present it has been decided to study the pines, especially the white pine and the 
three Southern lumber pines. 

In selecting localities for collecting specimens, a distinction is made between station and site. 

By station is understood a section of country (or any places within that section) which is characterized in a 
general way by similar climatic conditions .and geological formation. Station, then, refers mainly to the general 
geographical situation. Site refers to the local conditions and surroundings within the station, such as difference of 
elevation, of exposure, of physical properties and depth of the soil, nature of subsoil, and forest conditions, such as 
mixed or pure growth, open or close stand, etc. 

The selection of characteristic sites in each station requiies considerable judgment. 

On each site five full-grown trees are to be taken, four of which are to be representative average trees; the 
fifth or "check'' tree, however, should be the best developed tree that can be found on the site. Some additional 
test trees wil 1 be taken from the open and also a few younger trees. The trees are cut into varying lengths, and from 
each log a disk of 6-inch height is secured, after having marked the north and south sides and noted the position of 
the log in the tree. 

The disks are sent for examination of the physical and physiological features to the Michigan University, while 
the logs, and later on special parts of the disks are to be sent to the test laboratory of the Washington University 
of St. Louis. Here, for the first time, a systematic series of beam tests will be made and compared with the tests on 
the usual small laboratory test pieces. Such tests with full-length beams in comparison with tests on small speci- 
mens promi.se important practical results, for a few tests have lately developed that large timbers seem to have but 
little more than one-half the strength they were credited with by standard authorities, who relied upon the tests on 
small specimens. 

From the " check " tree mentioned before only clear timber is to be chosen, in order to ascertain the possibilities 
of the species and also to establish, if possible, a relation between such clear timber and that used in general 
practice, whore elements of we^^kpees are introduced by knots and other blemishes, 



TIMBER PHYSICS METHODS AND AIMS.'^'" 379 

An authority on engineering matters writes regarding tliis worli : 

"Inasmuch as what passes current among engineers and architects as information on the strength of timber is 
really misinformation, and that no rational designing in timber can be done until something more reliable is furnished 
in this direction, the necessity for making a competent and trustworthy series of such tests is apparent. This is a 
work which the Government should undertake if it is to be impartial and general." 

A careful record of all that pertains to the history and conditions of the growth from which the test pieces 
come, and of their minute physical examination, will distinguish these tests from any hitherto undertaken on 
American timbers. 

Tbe disk pieces will be studied to ascertain the form and dimensions of the trunk, the rate and mode of its 
growth, the density of the wood, the amount of water in the fresh wood, the shrinkage consequent upon drying, the 
structure of the wood in greatest detail, the strength, resistance, and working qualities of the wood, and lastly, its 
chemical constituents, fuel value, and composition of the ash. 

Ill Bulletiu G we are introduced to the science of "timber xAysics" in the following language: 

Whenever human knowledge in any particular direction has grown to such an extent and complexity as to make 
it desirable for greater convenience and better comprehension to group it, correlate its parts, and organize it into 
a systematic whole, we may dignify such knowledge by a collective name as a new science or branch of science. 
The need of such organization is especially felt when a more systematic progress iu accumulating new knowledge is 
contemplated. In devising, therefore, the plans for a systematic and comprehensiTe examination of our woods it has 
appeared desirable to establish a system under which is to be organized all the knowledge we ha\'e or may acquire 
of the nature and behavior of wood. 

To this new branch of natural science I propose to give the name of "timber physics," a term which I have 
used first in my report for 1887, when, in devising a systematic jilan of forestry science the absence of a collective 
name for this class of knowledge became apparent. 

While forest biology contemplates the forest and its comijouents in their living condition, we comprise in timber 
physics all phenomena exhibited in the dead material of forest production. 

The practical application of timber or wood for human use, its technology, is based upon the knowledge of 
timber physics, and under this term we comprise not only the anatomy, the chemical composition, the physical and 
mechanical properties of wood, but also its diseases and defects, and a knowledge of the influences and conditions 
which determine structure, physical, chemical, mechanical, or technical properties and defects. This comprehensive 
science, conceived under the name here chosen, although developed more or less in some of its parts, has never yet 
been dignified by a special name, nor has a systematic arrangement of its parts been attempted before. It comprises 
various groups of knowledge derived from other sections of science, which are neither iu themselves nor in their 
relations to each other fully developed. 

While iilant physiology, biology, chemistry, anatomy, and especially xylotomy, or the science of wood structure, 
are more or less developed and contribute toward building up this new branch of science, but little knowledge exists 
in regard to the interrelation between the properties of wood on one side and the modilications in 'its composition 
and structure on the other. Even the relation of tbe properties of various woods, as compared with each other, and 
their distinct specitic peculiarities are but little explored and established. Less knowledge still exists as to the 
relation of the conditions which surround the living tree to the properties which are exhibited in its wood as a result 
of its life functions. Suppositions and conjectures more or less plausible preponderate over positive knowledge 
derived from exact observation and from the results of exjicriments. Still less complete is our knowledge in regard 
to the relation of properties and the methods and means used for shaping or working the wood. 

The close interrelation of all branches of natural science is now so well reciignizcd that I need not remind my 
readers that hard and fast lines can not be drawn whereby each lield of inquiry is coiilined ami limited; ihere must 
necessarily be an overlapping from one to the other. Any system, therefore, of dividing a larger iield of inquiry 
into parts is only a matter of convenience ; its divisions and correlations must be to some extent arhitrary and varied 
according to the point of view from which we proceed to divide and correlate. 

There are two definite and separate directions in which this branch of natural science needs to be developed, 
and the knowledge comprised in it may he divided accordingly. On one side it draws its substance largely from the 
more comprehensive fields of botany, molecular physics, and chemistry, and on the other side it rests upon investi- 
gations of the wood material from the point of view of mechanics or dynamics. In the first direction we are led to 
deal with the wood material as it is, its nature or appearance and conditions; in the second direction we consider 
the wood material in relation to external mechanical forces, its behavior under stress. 

The first part is largely descriptive, concerned in examining gross and minute •structures, physical and chemical 
conditions and properties, and ultimately attempting to explain these by referring to causes and conditions which 
produce them. This is a field for investigation and research by the plant physiologist in the laboratory in connec- 
tion with studies of environment iu the forest. The second part, which relies for its development mainly upon 
experiment by the engineer, deals with the properties which are a natural consequence of the structure, physical 
condition, and chemical composition of the wood as exhibited under the application of external mechanical forces. 
It comprises, therefore, those studies which contemplate the wood substance, with special reference to the uses of 
man, and forms ultimately the basis for the mechanical technology of wood or the methods of its use iu the arts. 

The correlation of the results of these two directions of study as cause and effect is the highest aim and 
ultimate goal, the philosophy of the science of timber physics. Timber physics, iu short, is to furnish all necessary 
knowledge of the rational application of wood in the arts, and at the same time, by retrospection, such knowledge 
will enable us to produce in our own forest growth qualities of given character. 



380 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

Conceived in this manner it becomes tlie pivotal science of the art of forestry, aioand whicli the practice hoth 
of the consumer and producer of forest growth moves. 

The first part of our science vrould require a study into gross and minute anatomy, the structure of the wood, 
form, dimensions, distribution, and arrangement of its cell elements and of groups of structural parts, not only in 
order to distinguish the ditterent woods, but also to furnish the basis for an explanation of their physical and 
mechanical properties. We next would class here all investigations into the physical nature or properties of the 
wood material, which necessarily also involves an investigation into the change of these properties under varying 
conditions and influences. A third chapter would occupy itself with the chemical composition and properties of 
woods and their changes in the natural process of life, which idedicate the fuel value and durability as well as the 
use of the wood in chemical technology. 

Although, philosophically speaking, it would hardly seem admissible to distinguish between physical and 
mechanical properties or to speak of "mechanical" forces, for the sake of convenience and practical purposes it is 
desirable to make the distinction and to classify all phenomena and changes of nonliving bodies, or bodies without 
reference to life functions, into chemical, physical, and mechanical phenomena and changes. As chemical phenomena 
or chaui'es, and therefore also conditions or properties, we class, then, those which have reference to atomic struc- 
ture ; as physical phenomena, changes, and properties those which refer to and depend ou molecular arrangement, 
and as mechanical (molar) changes and properties those which concern the masses of bodies, as exhibited under the 
influence of external forces, without altering their physical or chemical constitution. 

There is no doubt that this division is somewhat forced, since not only most or all mechanical (as here conceived) 
changes are accompanied or preceded by certain alterations of the interior molecular arrangement of the mass, but 
also many physical phenomena or properties, like density, weight, shrinkage, having reference to the mass, might 
be classed as mechanical; yet if we conceive that physical phenomena are always concerned with the "quantity of 
matter in molecular arrangement'' and with the changes produced by interior forces, while the latter are concerned 
rather with the "position of matter in molecular arrangement" and with changes under application of exterior 
forces, the distinction assumes a practical value. 

Our conception of these distinctions will be aided if we refer to the physical laboratory as furnishing the 
evidence of physical phenomena and to the mechanical laboratory as furnishing evidence of mechanical phenomena. 

These latter, then, form the subject of our second or dynamic part of timber physics, which concerns itself to 
ascertain mainly by experiment, called tests, under application of the laws of elasticity, the strength of the material 
and other properties which are exhibited as reactions to the influence of applied stresses, and those which need 
consideration in the mechanical use of the material in the various arts. 

Having investigated the material in its normal condition, we would necessarily come to a consideration of 
- such physical and chemical conditions of the material as are abnormal and known as disease, decay, or defects. 

Finally, having determined the properties and their changes as exhibited in material produced under changing 
conditions or differing in physical and structural respects, it would remain the crowning success and goal of this 
science to relate mechanical and physical properties with anatomical and physiological development of the wood 
substance. 

The subject-matter comprised in this branch of applied natural science, then, may be brought into the following 
schematic view : 

TIMBEE PHYSICS, OK THE SCIENCE OF WOOD. 

I.— Wood structure or xylotomy. 
(a) Exterior form. 

Here would be described the form development of timber in the standing tree, differentiated into root 
system, root collar, bole or trunk crown, branches, twigs ; relative amounts of material furnished by each. 
(6) Interior structural appearance; differentiation and arrangement of groups of structural elements. 

Here would be described the gross structural features of the wood, the distribution and size of medul- 
lary rays, vessels, fibro-vascular bundles, as exhibited to the naked eye or under the magnifying glass on 
tangential, radial, and transverse sections ; the appearance of the annual rings, their size, regularity, dif- 
ferentiation into summer and spring wood, and all distinguishing features due to the arrangement and 
proportion of the tissues composing the wood. 
(c) Minute anatomy or histology; differentiation and arrangement of structural elements. 

Here the revelations of the microscope are recorded, especially the form, dimensions, and structure of 
the different kinds of cells, their arrangement, proportion, and relative importance in the resulting tissues. 
{d) Comparatire classification of woods, according to structural features. , 
(e) Laws of wood growth with reference to structural results. 

Discussion of the factors that influence the formation of wood in the standing tree. 
(/) Abnormal formations. 

Burls, bird's eye, curly, wavy, and other structural abnormities and their causes. 
II. — Physical properties, i. e., properties based on molecular (physical) constitution. 
(a) Exterior appearance. 

Such properties as can be observed through the unaided senses, as color, gloss, grain, texture, smell, 
resonance, 
(i) Material condition. 

Such properties or changes as are determined by measurements, as density or weight, water contents 
and their distribution, volume, and its changes by shrinkage and swelling. 



TIMBER PHYSICS — EARLIEE WORK. 381 

(c) Classificaiion of woods according to pliysico-teclmical properties, i. e., snch physical properties as determiDe 
tlieir application in the arts. 
III. — Chemical troperties, i. e., properties based on atomic (chemical) constitution. 

(a) General chemical analysis of uood (qualitative and quantitative). 

Here would be discussed the chemical constitution of different woods and different parts of trees and 
their changes due to physiological processes, age, conditions of growth, etc. 

(b) Carbohydrates of the wood. 

Here would be more specially discussed cellulose and lignin, cork formations, organic contents and their 
changes, and such properties as predicate the fuel value of woods, their manufacture into charcoal, their 
food value, pulping qualities, etc. 

(c) Extractive materials. 

A knowledge of these underlies the application of wood in the manufacture of tan extracts, resin, and 
turpentine, tar, gas, alcohol, acids, vanillin, etc. 

(d) Antiseptic materials. 

A knowledge of those chemical properties which predicate durability and underlie processes of increasing 
the same. 

(e) Mineral constituents. 

A knowledge of these in particular will establish the relation of wood growth to mineral constituents 
of the soil and also serve as basis for certain technical uses (potash). 
IV. — Mechanical properties, i. e., properties based on elastic conditions exhibited by the aggregate mass under 
influence of exterior (mechanical) forces. 
{a) Form changes without destruction of cohesion, commonly called elasticity, flexibility, toughness. 
(b) Form changes with destruction of cohesion, commonly called strength (tensile, compressive, torsional, shearing), 
cleavability, hardness. 
V. — Technical properties, i. e., properties in combination. 

Here would be considered the woods with reference to their technical use, their application in the arts, 
which is invariably based upon a combination of several physical or mechanical properties. 
VI. — Diseases and faults. 

Here would be treated the changes in structure and properties from the normal to abnormal conditions, 
due to influences acting upon the tree during its life or upon the timber during its use. 
VII. — Relation of properties to each other. 

Here would be discussed the connection which may be established between structure, physical, chemical, 

and mechanical properties, and also between these and the conditions of growth under which the material 

was produced. The philosophy of the entire preceding knowledge would here be brought together. 

To contribute toward this important branch of human knowledge and to help in the building of its foundation, 

the work undertaken by the Division of Forestry described in this bulletin was designed by the writer; and, in 

order to build with a knowledge of what has been done before on this structure, a brief review of the progress in 

the development of timber physics seemed advisable. 

This historical review is then given. From this we deem it appropriate to quote the portion 
which refers to ett'orts in the United States up to the time of the writing to establish data 
regarding the mechanical properties of our tiniber : 

AMERICAN WORK. 

While it may be possible to work out the general laws of relation between physical and mechanical properties 
on material of European origin, for practical purposes we can not rely upon any other data than those ascertained 
from American timbers, and so far as dependence of quality on conditions of growth are concerned this truth is. just 
as patent. Although in the United States probably more timber has been and is being used than in any other 
country, but little work has been done in the domain of timber physics. 

Among the earliest American experiments falling in the domain of timber physics may be cited those of 
Marcus Bull to determine "the comparative quantities of heat evolved in the combustion of the principal varieties 
of wood and coal used in the United States for fuel," made in the years 1823 to 1825 and published in 1826. Here 
the experiments of Lavoisier, Crawford and Dalton, and Count Rumford on similar lines are discussed and followed 
by an able series of experiments and discussion on American woods and coals. 

The only comprehensive work in timber physics ever undertaken on American timbers is that of Mr. T. P. 
Sharpies, in connection with the Tenth Census, and published in 1884, Vol. IX, on the Forests of North America. 
Comprehensiveness, however, has been sought rather in trying to bring under examination all the arborescent species 
than in furnishing fuller data of practical applicability on those from which the bulk of our useful material is 
derived. "The results obtained," the author says, "are highly suggestive; they must not, however, be considered 
conclusive, but rather valuable as indicating what lines of research should be followed in a more thorough study of 
this subject." 

Not less than 412 species were examined in over 1,200 specimens. The results are given in five tables, besides 
four comparative tables of range, relative values, averages, etc. The specimens were taken " in most cases from 
the butt cut and free from sap and knots;" the locality and soil from which the tree came are given in most cases, 
and in some its diameter and layers of heart -and sapwood; determinations were made of specific gravity, mineral 
ash per cent, and from these data fuel values were calculated. 



382 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

The specimens tested were "ciirefully seasoned." For transverse strain they were made 4 centimeters (1.57 
inches) square, and a few of double these dimensions, with 1 meter (3.28 feet) span. 

One table illustrates "the relation between the specific gravity and the transverse strength of the wood of 
species, npon which a sufBeient number of tests has been made to render such a comparison valuable." This table 
seems to show that iu perfect specimens weight and strength stand in close relation. A few tanning determinations 
on the bark of a few species are also given. 

The object of the work as stated, namely, to be suggestive of a more thorough study of the subject, has 
certainly been fully and creditably attained. Of compilatory works, for use in practice and for reference, the 
following, published iu the United States, may be cited: 

De A^olson Wood: Resistance of Materials (1871), containing rather scanty references to the work of Chevandier 
and Wertheim. 

R. G. Hatfield: Theory of Transverse Strain (1877), which, besides other references, contains also twenty-three 
tables of the author's own test on white pine, Georgia pine, hemlock, spruce, white ash, and black locust, on sticks 
1 by 1 inch by 1.6 feet in length. 

William H. Burr: The Elasticity and Resistance of Materials of Engineering, third edition, 1890, a compre- 
hensive work, iu which many references are made to the work of various American experimenters. 

Gaetano Lanza, in Applied Mechanics, 188.5, lays especial stress on the fact th.it tests on smaU select pieces 
give too high values, and quotes the following experiments on loug pieces. He refers to the work of Capt. T. J. 
Rodman, United States Army, published in Ordnance Manual, who used test pieces 2i by of inches and 5 feet length, 
without giving any reference to density or other facts concerning the wood; and to Col. Laidley's United States 
Navy test (Senate Ex. Doc. 12, Forty-seventh Congress, first session, 1881), who conducted a series of experiments on 
Pacific slope timbers, "white and yellow pine," 12 feet long and 4 to 5 by 11 to 12 inches square, giving also 
account of density and .average width of rings. 

Lastly, the author's own experiments, made at the Watertown Arsenal for the Boston Manufacturers' Mutual 
Fire Insurance Company, on the columnar strength of " yellow pine" and white oak, 12 feet long and 6 to 10 inches 
thick, are brought in support of the claim that such tests show less than half the unit strength of those on small 
pieces. Data as to density, moisture, or life history of the specimens are everywhere lacking. 

R. H. Thurston, Materials of Engineering, 1882, contains, perhaps, more than any other American work on the 
subject, devoting, in Chapters II and III, 117 pages to timber and its strength, and in the chapter on Fuel several 
pages to wood and charcoal, .and the products of distillation. It also gives a description of some twenty-five kinds 
of American and of a few foreign timber trees, with a description of the structure and their wood in general; 
directions for felling and seasoning; discusses briefly shrinkage, characteristics of good timber, the influence of 
soil and climate ou trees and their wood, and of the various forms of decay of timber, methods of preservation and 
adaptation of various woods for various uses, much in the same manner as Rankine's Manual of Civil Engineering 
from which many conclusions are adopted. The author refers, besides foreign authorities, to the following 
American investigators : 

G. H. Corliss (unpublished?) is quoted as claiming that proper seasoning of hickory wood increases its strength 
by 15 per cent. 

R. G. Hatfield is credited with some of the best experiments on shearing strength, published in the American 
House Carpenter. 

Prof. G. Lanza's experiments are largely reproduced, also Trautwine's on shearing, and some of the author's 
own work on California spruce, Oregon pine, and others, especially in torsion, with a specially constructed machine, 
an interesting pl.ate of strain diagrams accompanying the discussion. 

In connection with the discussion by the author on the influence of prolonged stress, there is quoted as one 
of the older investigators, Herman Haupt, whose results on yellow pine were published In 1871 (Bridge 
C(mstruction). 

Experiments at the Stevens Institute of Technology are related, with the Important conclusion that a load 
of GO per cent of the ultimate strength will break a stick if left loaded (one small test piece having been left loaded 
fifteen months with this result). 

In addition the following list of references to American work in timber physics is here inserted, with a regret 
that It has not been possible to include all the stray notes which may be in existence but were not accessible. Those 
.able to add further notes are invited to aid in making this reference list complete : 

Abbott, Arthur V. Testing machines, their history, construction, and use. With Illustrations of machines, includ- 
ing that at Watertown Arsenal. Van Nostrand's Magazine, 1883, vol. 30, pp. 204, 325, 382, 477. 
Day, Frank M., University of Pennsylvania. The microscopic examination of timber with regard to its strength. 

Read before American Philosophical Society, 1883. 
Estrada, E. D. Experiments on the strength and other properties of Cuban woods. Investigations carried on in 
the laboratory of the Stevens Institute. Van Nostrand's Magazine, 1883, vol. 29, pp. 417, 441. 

Flint, . Report of tests of Nicaraguan woods. Journal of Franklin Institute, October, 1887, pp. 289-315. 

Goodale, Prof. George L., Harvard University. Physiological Botany, 1885, chapters 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 11, and 12. 
Ihlseng, Magnus C, Ph. D. On the modulus of elasticity in some American woods, determined by vibration. Van 
Nostrand's Magazine, 1878, 19. 

On a mode of measuring the velocity of sounds in woods. Read before the National Academy of Science, 

1877 ; published in American Journal of Science and Arts, 1879, vol. 17. 
Johnson, Thomas H. On the strength of columns. Paper read at annual convention of American Society of Civil 
Engineers, 1885. Transactions of the Society, vol. 15. 



TIMBER PHYSICS — EARLIER WORK. 383 

Kidder, F. E. Experiments at Maine State College on transverse strength of soutliem and white pine. Van Nostrand's 
Magazine, 1879, vol. 22. 

Experiments with yellow and white pine. Van Nostrand's Magazine, 1880, vol. 23. 

Experiments on the strength and stift'uess of small spruce beams. Van Nostrand's Magazine, 1880, vol. 24. 

■ Influence of time on bending strength and elasticity. Journal of Franklin Institute, 1882. Proceedings 

Institute of Civil Engineering, vol. 71. 
Lanza, Gaetano, professor Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Address before American Society of Mecbanical 
Engineers, describing the 50,000-pound testing machine at vVatertown Arsenal and tests of strength of large 
sprnce beams. Journal of Franklin Institute, 1883. 

IJeport of Boston Manufacturers' Mutual Fire Insurance Company of tests made with Watertown machine 

on columns of pine, whiteWood, and oak of dimensions used in cotton and woolen mills. See summary and 
tables of same in Burr's Elasticity and Resistance of the Materials of Engineering, p. 480. 

Macdonald, Charles. Necessity of government aid in making tests of materials for structural purposes. Paper read 
before the American Institute of Mining Engineers. Van Nostrand's Magazine, 1882, vol. 27, p. 177. 

Norton, Prof. \V. A., Yale College. Results of experiments on the set of bars of wood, iron, and steel after a 
transvei'se set. Experiments discussed in two papers read before the National Academy of Science, 1874 and 
1875. Published in Van Nostrand's Magazine, 1887, vol. 17, p. 531. 

Description of machin-3 used is given in proceedings of the A. A. A. S., eighteenth meeting, 186M. 

Parker, Lieut. Col. F. H., United States Ordname Department. Report of tests of American woods by the testing 
machine. United States Arsenal, Watertown, under supervision of Prof. C. S. Sargent, for the Census Report, 
1880. Senate Ex. Doc. No. 5, Forty-eighth Congress, first session, 1882-83. 

Report of experiments on the adhesion of nails, spikes, and screws in various woods, as made at Watertown 

Arsenal. Senate Ex. Doc. No. 3.5, Forty-ninth Congress, first session, 1883-84, and in report on tests of metals 
and other materials for industrial purposes at Watertown Arsenal, 1888-89. 

Also in report on tests of iron, steel, and other materials for industrial purposes at Watertown Arsenal, 

1886-87, pp. 188, 189. 

Report on cubic compression of various woods, as shown by tests at Watertown Arsenal, 1885-86, in report 

on tests of metals, etc., for industrial purposes. 

Philbrick, Professor, Iowa University. New pr.actical formulas for the resistance of solid and bnilt beams, girders, 
etc., with problems and designs. Van Nostrand's Magazine, 1886, vol.35. 

Pike, Prof. W. A. Tests of white pine, made in the testing laboratory of the University of Minnesota. Van Nos- 
trand's Magazine, 1885, vol. 34, p. 472. 

Rothrock, Prof. J. T., University of Pennsylvania. Some microscopic distinctions between good and bad timber of 
the same species. Read before American Philosophic Society. 

Smith, C. Shaler, C. E. Summary of results of 1,200 tests of full-size yellow-pine columns. See W. 11. Burr's 
Elasticity and Resistance of the Materials of Engineering, pp. 48.5-490. 

Thurston, Prof. R. H., Cornell University. The torsional resistance of materials. Journal of Franklin Institute, 
1873, vol. 65. 

Experiments on torsion. Van Nostrand's Magazine, July, 1873. 

Experiments on the strength, elasticity, ductility, etc., of materials, as shown by a new testing machine. 

Van Nostrand's Magazine, 1874, vol. 10. 

. The relation of ultimate resistance to tension and torsion. Proceedings of Institute of Civil Engineers, 

vol. 7, 1878. 
. The strength of American timber. Experiments at Stevens Institute. Paper before A. A. A. S., 1879. 

.lonrnal of Franklin Institute, vol. 78, 1879. 
. Effect of prolonged stress upon the strength and elasticity of pine timber. Journal of Fr.anklin Institute. 

vol. 80, 1880. 
. Influence of time on bending strength and elasticity. Proceedings A. A. A. S., 1881. Proceedings Institute 

of Civil Engineers, vol. 71. 
Watertown Arsenal. Summary of results of tests of timber at, in Ex. Doc. No. 1, Forty-seventh Congress, second 

session. See Burr's Elasticity and Resistance of Materials of Engineering, pp. 486 and 535. 
Wellington, A. M., c. e. Experiments on impregnateil timber. Railroad Gazette, 1880. 

Organization and METnoDS. 

Although in the course of the investigations many minor and some more important changes 
in methods became necessary, the general plan was in the main adhered to. We consider it, 
therefore, desirable to restate from the same bulletin such portions as will explain the methods 
pursued. The work at the test laboratory at St. Louis, Mo., was described in full by Prof. J. B. 
Johnson, in charge, and the methods in the examination of the physical properties of the test 
material by the writer. 

There are four departments necessary to carry on the work as at present organized, namely: 

(1) The collecting department. 

(2) The department of mechanical tests. 



384 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U, S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

(3) The department of physical and microscopic examination of the test material. 

(4) The department of compilation and final discussion of results. 

The region of botanical distribution of any one species that is to be investigated is divided 
into as many stations as there seem to be widely different climatic or geological differences in its 
habitat. In each station are selected as many sites as there seem widely different soils, elevations, 
exposures, or other striking conditions occupied by the species. An expert collector describes 
carefully the conditions of station and site, under instructions and on blanks appended to this 
report. From each site five mature trees of any one species are chosen, four of which are average 
representatives of the general growth, the fifth, or "check" tree, the best developed that can be 
found. The trees are felled and cut into logs of merchantable size, and from the butt end of each 
log a disk 6 inches in height is sawed. Logs and disks are marked with numbers to indicate 
number of tree and number of log or disk, and their north and south sides are marked; their height 
in the tree from the ground is noted in the record. The disks are also weighed immediately, then 
wrapped in oiled paper and packing paper, and sent by mail or express to the laboratory, to serve 
the purpose of physical and structural examination. Some disks of the limbwood and of younger 
trees are also collected for other physical and physiological investigations, and to serve with the 
disks of the older trees in studying the rate of growth and other problems. 

The logs are shipped to the test laboratory, there sawed and prepared for testing, carefully 
marked, and tested for strength. 

The fact that tests on large pieces give different values from those obtained from small pieces 
being fully established, a number of large sticks of each species and site will be tested full length 
in order to establish a ratio between the values obtained from the different sizes. Part of the 
material is tested green, another part when seasoned by various methods. Finally, tests which 
are to determine other working qualities of the various timbers, such as adapt them to various 
uses, are contemplated. 

The disks cut from each log and correspondingly marked are examined at the botanical labora- 
tory. An endless amount of weighings, measurings, countings, computings, microscopic examina- 
tions, and drawings is required here, and recording of the observed facts in such a manner that 
they can be handled. Chemical investigations have also been begun in the Division of Chemistry 
of the Department of Agriculture, the tannic contents of the woods, their distribution through the 
tree and their relation to the conditions of growth forming the first series of these investigations. 

It is evident that in these investigations, carried on by competent observers, besides the main 
object of the work, much new and valuable knowledge unsought for must come to light if the 
investigations are carried on systematically and in the comprehensive plan laid out. Since every 
stick and every disk is marked in such a manner that its absolute position in the tree and almost 
the absolute position of the tree itself or at least its general condition and surroundings are known 
and recorded, this collection will be one of the most valuable working collections ever made, allow- 
ing later investigators to verify or extend the studies. 

This significant prophetic language also occurs in this connection, which has finally been 
realized by the discovery of the relation between compression and beani strength : 

By and by it is expected that the iinmber of tests necessary may he reduced considerahly, when for each species 
the relation of the different exhibitions of strength can be sufficiently established, and perhaps a test for compres- 
sion alone furnish sufficient data to comjiute the strength in other directions. 

WORK AT THE TEST LABORATORY AT ST. LOUIS, MO. 

SAWING, STORING, AND SEASONING. 

On arrival of the logs in St. Louis they are sent to a sawmill and cut into sticks, as shown in fig. 103. 

In all cases the arrangements shown in Nos. 1 and 2 are used, except when a detailed study of the timber in all 
parts of the cross section of the log is intended. A few of the most perfect logs of each species are cut up into small 
sticks, as shown in Nos. 3 and 4. The logs tested for determining the effects of extracting the turpentine from the 
Southern pitch pines were all cut into small sticks. 

In all cases a "small stick" is nominally 4 inches square, but when dressed down for testing may be as small as 
3A inches square. The "large sticks" vary from 6 by 12 to 8 by 16 inches in cross section. 

All logs vary from 12 to 18 feet in length. They all have a north and south diametr.al line, together with the 
number of the tree and of the log plainly marked on their larger or lower ends. The stenciled lines for sawing are 



TIMBER PHYSICS — TESTING. 



385 



adjusted to this north and south line, as shown in the figures. Each space is then branded hy deep dies with three 

25 

numbers, as, for instance, thus : 2, which signifies that this stick was number i, in log 2, of tree 25. A facsimile of 

4 
the stenciling is recorded in the log book, and the sticks there numbered to correspond with the numbering on the 
logs. After sawing, each stick can be identified and its exact origin determined. These three numbers, then, become 
the identification marks for all specimens cut from this stick, and they accompany the results of tests in all the 
records. 

The methods of sawing shown in Nos. 2 and 4 are called "boxing the heart;" that is, all the heart portion is 
thrown into one small stick, 'whioh in practice may be thrown away or put into a lower grade without serious loss. 
In important bridge, floor, or roof timbers, the heart should always be either excluded or "boxed" in this way, since 
its presence leads to checking and impairs the strength of the stick. 

After sawing, the timbers are stored in the laboratory until they are tested. The "green tests" are made 
usually within two months after sawing, while the "dry tests" are made at viu-ious subsequent times. One end 
(60 inches) of each small stick is tested green, and the other end reserved and tested after seasoning. The seasoning 
is hastened in some cases by means of a drying box. The temperature of the inflowing air in this drying box is 
kept at .about 100" F., with suitable precaution against checking of the wood, and the air is exhausted by means of 
a fm. The air is, therefore, somewhat rarefied in the box. The temperature is at all times under control. It 
operates when the fan is running, and this is only during working hours. 

The mechanical and moisture test are then made according to known methods. 





I 

i 

No. 2. No. 3. 

Fig. 103.— Metliod of sawing test logs. 

EXAMINATION INTO THE PHYSICAL PEOPEETIBS OF TEST MATERIAL. 

The physical examinatiou consists in ascertaining the specific weight of the dried material, 
and incidentally the progress and amount of shrinkage due to seasoning; the counting and 
measuring of the annual rings, and noting other microscopic appearances in the growth; the 
microscoiiic investigation into the relation of spring and summer wood from ring to ring; the 
frequency and size of medullary rays; the number of eel's and thickness of their walls; and, in 
short, the consideration of any and all elements which may elucidate the structure and may have 
influence upon the properties of the test piece. The rate of growth and other biological facts 
which may lead to the finding of relation between physical appearance, conditions of growth, and 
mechanical properties are also studied incidentally. 

SHAPING AND MARKING OF THE MATERIAL. 

The object of this work being in part the discovery of the difl'erences that exist in the wood, not 
only in trees of different species or of the same species from various localities, but even in the wood 
of the same tree and from the same cross section, a careful marking of each piece is necessary. The 
disks are split, first into a north and south piece, and each of these into smaller pieces of variable 
size. In one tree all pieces were made but 3 cm. thick radially, in another 4 cm., in still others 5 cm., 
while in some trees, especially wide-ringed oaks, the pieces were left still larger. In the conifers 
the outer or first piece was made to contain only sapwood. Desirable as it appeared to have each 
piece contain a certain number of rings, and thus to represent a fixed period of growth, it proved 
impracticable, at least in the very narrow-ringed disks of the pines, where sometimes the width of 
a ring is less than 5 mm. (0.2 inch). 
H. Doc. 181- — 25 



386 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Some of the disks were split to a wedge shape from center to periphery, so that each smaller 
piece uot only represents a certain period of growth in quality, but also in quantity, thus simplify- 
ing the calculations for the entire piece or disk. Other pieces were left in their prismatic form, 
when to calculate the average density of the entire piece the density of each smaller piece is 
multiplied by the mean distance of this smaller piece fi'om the center, and the sum of the products 
divided by the sum of the distances. 

, Each piece is marked, first by the number of the tree, in Arabic; second, by the number of 
the disk, in Roman numbers; and if split into small pieces, each smaller piece by a letter of the 
alphabet, the piece at the periphery in all cases bearing the letter a. Besides the number and 
letters mentioned, each iiiece bears either the letter K" or S, to indicate its orientation on the north 
or south side of the tree. To illustrate: 5 — vii N a means that the piece bearing the label 
belongs to tree 5 and disk vii comes from the north side of the tree, and is the peripheral part of 
this disk piece. Prom the collector's notes the exact position of this piece in the tree can readily 
be ascertained. 

The entire prisms sent by freight are left in the original form, unless used for special purposes, 
and are stored in a dry room for future use. 



WEIGHING AND MEASURING. 



The weighing is done on an aijothecary's balance, readily sensitive to 0.1 gram with a load of 
more than 200 grams. Dealing with pieces of 200 to 1,000 grams in weight, the accuracy of weigh- 
ing is always within 1 gram. 

The measuring is done by immersion in an instrument illustrated in the following design : Fis 
a vessel of iron ; 8 represents one of two iron standards attached to the vessel and projecting 




FlQ. 104. — Apparatus for determining specific gravity. 



above its top; i? is a metal bar fastened to the cup A, which serves as guard to the cup and pre- 
vents it going down farther at one time than another by coming to rest on the standards S. The 
cup A dips down one-sixteenth to one-eighth of an inch below the edge of the knee-like spout. In 
working, the cup is lifted out by the handle which the bar B forms, water is poured into the vessel 
until it overflows through the spout, then the cup is set down, replacing the mobile and fickle 
natural water level by a constant artificial one. Now the instrument is set, the pan P is placed 
under the spout, the cup is lifted out and held over the vessel, so that the drippings fall back into 
the latter, the piece of wood to be measured is put into the vessel and the cup replaced, and pressed 
down until the bar B rests on the standards 8. This is done gently to prevent the water from rising 
above the rim of the vessel. This latter precaution is superfiuo us where the cup fits closely, as it 



TIMBER PHYSICS PHYSICAL EXAMINATION. 387 

does in oue of the instruments thus far used. The pan -n-ith water is then weighed, the pan itself 
being tared by a bag of shot. The water is poured out, the pan wiped dry, and the process begins 
anew. To work well it takes two persons, one to weigh and record. The water pan is a seamless 
tin pan, holding about 1,500 cc. of water and weighing only 144 grams. The temperature as well 
as density of the water are ascertained, the latter, of course, omitted when distilled water is used. 
To maintain the water at the same temperature it requires frequent changing. 

DRYING. 

After marking, the pieces are left to dry at ordinary temperature. Then they are placed in a 
dry kiln and dried at 100° 0. 

The drying box used is a double-walled sheet-iron case, lined with asbestus paper, and heated 
with gasoline. The air enters below and has two outlets on top. The temperature is indicated by 
a thermonieter and maintained fairly constant. ' 

After being dried, the pieces of wood are weighed and measured, in the same way as described 
for the fresh wood, and from the data thus gathered the density, shrinkage, and moisture per cent 
are derived in the usual manner. 

The formulae employed are : 

(1) Density of fresh wood =;5^^'?M^Lft:?^l'^22d: 

Volume of fresli wood. 

(2) Density of dry wood=^f S-^i-O^^EZJ^^: ' 

V olume of dry wood. 

(3) Shvmkage=l'^^^p--=$^:U^^^^ 

Fresh volume. 

,'4) Moisture iu wood=^'^'^"^^ weight-dry weight. 
Fresh weight. 
In presenting these values they are always multiplied by 100, so that the density expresses 
the weight of 100 cm.^ of wood; thus the shrinkage and the amount of moisture become the 
shrinkage and moisture per cent. 

SHRINKAGE EXPERIMENTS. 

To discover more fully the relations of weight, humidity, and shrinkage, as well as "checking" 
or cracking of the wood, a number of separate experiments were made. A number of the fresh 
specimens were weighed and measured at variable intervals until perfectly dry. Some dry pieces 
were placed in water and kept immersed until the maximum volume was attained. Without 
describing more in detail these tests and their results, it may be mentioned that in the immersed 
pieces studied the final maximum volnine differed very little, iu some cases not at all, from the 
original volume of the wood when fresh; and also that in a piece of white pine only 15 cm. long 
and weighing but 97 gs. when dry, it required a week before the swelling ceased. 

To determine the shrinkage in ditterent directions a number of measurements are made iu 
pieces of various sizes and shapes. In most cases j)ins were driven into the wood to furnish a firm 
metal point of contact for the caliper. A number of pieces of oak were cut in various ways to 
study the effect ot size, form, and relative position of the grain on checking. 

WOOD STRUCTURE. 

The most time-robbing, but also the most fascinating, part of the work consists in the 
study of the wood as an important tissue of a living organism; a tissue where all favorable and 
unfavorable changes experienced by the tree during its long lifetime find a permanent record. 

GENERAL APPEARANCE. 

For this study all the specimens from one tree are brought together and arranged in the same 
order in which they occurred in the tree. This furnishes a general view of the appearance of the 
stem; any striking peculiarities, such as great eccentricity of growth, unusual color, abundance 
of resin iu any part of the stem, are seen at a glance and are noted down. 

A table is prepared with separate columns, indicating — 

(1) Height ot the disk in the tree (this being furnished by the collector's notes); 

(2) Radius of the section; 



388 FORESTEY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

(3) ^S^umber of rings from periphery to center; 

(4) Number of rings in the sap wood; 

(5) Widtli of the sapwood; and 

(6) Eemarks on color, grain, etc. 

The results from each disk occupy two lines, one for the pieces from the. north side and one 
for those of the south side. The radius is measured correct to one-half millimeter (0.02 inch), and 
the figures refer to the air-dry wood. 

To count the rings, the piece is smoothed with a sharp knife or i)lane, the cut being made > 
oblique, i. e., not quite across the grain, nor yet longitudinal. Beginning at the periphery, each ring 
is marked with a dot of ink, and each tenth one with a line to distinguish it from the rest. After 
counting, the rings are measured in groups of ten, twenty, thirty, rarely more, and these meas- 
urements entered in separate subcolumns. In this way the rate of growth of the last ten, twenty, 
or thirty years throughout the tree is found, also that of similar periods previous to the last; in 
short, a fairly complete history of the rate of growth of the tree from the time when it had reached 
the height of the stump to the day when felled is thus obtained. jSTot only do these rings furnish 
iuformation concerning the growth in thickness, but indicating the age of the tree when it had 
grown to the height, from which the second, third, etc., disks were taken, the rate of growth in 
height, as well as that of thickness, is determined, any unfavorable season of growth or any series 
of such seasons are found faitlifuUy recorded in these rings, and the influence of such seasons, 
whatever their cause, both on the quantitj^ and on the quality or properties of the wood, can thus 
be ascertained. 

In many cases, especially in the specimens from the longleaf pine, and from the limbs of all 
pines, the study of these rings is somewhat difficiilt. Zones of a centimeter and more exist where 
the width of the rings is such that the magnifier has to be used to distinguish them. In some cases 
this difflculty is increased by the fact that the last cells of one year's growth difi'er from the first 
cells of the nest year's ring only in form and not in the thickness of their walls, and therefore 
produce the same color effect. iSuch cases frequently occur in the wood of the upper half of the 
disks from limbs (the limb supported horizontally and in its natural position), andoften the magnifier 
has to be reenforced by the microscope to furnish the desired information. For this purpose the 
wood is treated as in all microscopic work, being first soaked in water and then sectioned with a 
sharp knife or razor and examined on the usual slide in water or glycerin. 

The reason for beginning the counting of rings at the periphery is the same which suggested 
the marking of all peripheral pieces by the letter a. It is convenient, almost essential, to have, 
for instance, the thirty-fifth riug in Section II represent the same year's growth as the thirty-fifth 
ring in Section X. The width of the sapwood, the number of annual rings composing it, as well 
as the clearness and uniformity of the line separating the sapwood from the lieartwood, are 
carefully recorded. In the columns of " remarks" any peculiarities which distinguish the particular 
piece of wood, such as defects of any kind, the presence of knots, abundance of resin, nature of 
the grain, etc., are set down. 

When finished, a variable number, commonly 3 to 6 small pieces, fairly representing the wood 
of the tree, are split off, marked with the numbers of their respective disks, and set aside for the 
microscopic study, which is to tell us of the cell itself, the very element of structure, and of its 
share in all the properties of wood. 

The small pieces are soaked in water, cut with a sharp knife or i-azor, and examined in water, 
glycerin, or chloriodide of zinc. The relative amount of the thick-walled, dark-colored bands of 
summer wood, the resin ducts, the dimensions of the common tracheids and their walls, both in 
spring and summer wood, the medullary rays, their distribution and their elements, are the 
principal subjects in dealing with coniferous woods; the quantitative distribution of tissues, or 
how much space is occupied by the thick-walled bast, how much by vessels, how much by thin- 
walled, pitted tracheids and parenchyma, and how much by the medullary rays; what is the 
relative value of each as a strength-giving element; what is the space Occupied by the lumina, 
what by the cell walls.in each of these tissues — these are among the important points in the study 
of the oaks. 

Continued sections from center to periphery, magnified 25 diameters, are employed in finding 
the relative amount of the summer wood; the limits of the entire ring and that of spring and 



TIMBEK PHYSICS STATEMENT OF RESULTS. 



389 




n.54 [i±o_ 

W357o\ 



S.n.%j 



FT. 203 Rings'^- 33% 
S.10% 
RMoSSm-TTu 





[W:41% 

,S.8.7% 

W.957It.TTl. 



EiG. 105. — Kesult of physical examination. (Sample.) 



LONGLEAF PINE (V, polusiri. 

Locality : "Wallace, Ala. 

Site: XTpland forest, quite deuse. 

Soil: Sandv. 



"White pine (P. Strohus), tree 116. 
Locality: Marathon County, "Wis. 
Site: Grown in dense mixed Ibrest. 
Soil : Sandy, with sandy subaoil. 



2). Denotes density or specific gravity of the dry wood. 

TT. Denotes percentage of water in the fresh wood, related to its 

weight. 
*S'. Denotes percentage of shrinkage in Uiln drying. 
M. W. Denotos width of ring (average) in millimeters (25mm.:^l inch). 
S. W. Denotes percentage of summer wood as related to total wood. 
Koman numbers refer to number of disk, placed in position of disk. 



Legends 

Height is given in feet from the gronnd ; 



lale, 10 feet ^2 inches. 
millimeters; scale, 10 mm.= 



Kadius, north and south (dotted line), i 

Clinch. 
Median line represents the pith. 
Hight-hand numbers relate to north side, left-hand numbers to south 

side. 
Outer lines represent outlines of trees. 



390 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

summer wood are marked on paper with the aid of the camera, and thus a panorama of the entire 
section is brought before the eye. The histology of the wood, the resin ducts, the tracheids and 
medullary rays, their form and dimensions, are studied in thin sections magnified 580 diameters 
and even more. Any peculiarity in form or arrangement is drawn with the camera and thus 
graphically recorded ; the dimensions are measured in the manner described for the measurement 
of the summer wood, or with the ocular micrometer. In measuring cell walls the entire distance 
between two neighboring lumina is taken as a " double wall," the thickness of the wall of either of 
the two cells being one-half of this. The advantage of this way of measuring is apparent, since 
the two points to be marked are in all cases perfectly clear and no arbitrary positions involved. 
The length of the cells is found in the usual way by separating the elements with Schultze's 
solution (nitric acid, chlorate of i>otassium). All results tabulated are averages of not less than 
ten, often of more than one hundred, measurements. 

In the attempt to find the quantitative relations of the different tissues, as well as the density 
of each tissue, various ways have been followed. In some cases drawings of magnified sections 
were made on good, even paper, the different parts cut out, and the paper weighed. In other cases 
numerous measurements and computations were resorted to. Though none of the results of these 
attempts can be regarded as perfectly reliable, they have done much to point out the relative 
importance of different constituents of the wood structure, and also the possibility and practica- 
bility, and even the necessity, of this line of investigation. 

INSTRUCTIONS AND BLANK FORMS, WITH ILLUSTRATIVE RECORDS. 

Instkuotions fob the Collection of Test Pieces of Pines for Timber Investigations. 

a. — object of work. 

The collector ehould understand that the ultimate object of these investigations is, if possible, to establish the 
relation of quality of timber to the conditions under which it is grown. To accomplish this object he is expected 
to furnish a very careful description of the conditions under which the test trees have grown, from which test pieces 
are taten. Care in ascertaining these and minuteness and accuracy of description are all-important in assuring 
proper results. It is also necessary to select and prepare the test pieces exactly as described and to make the records 
perfect as nearly as possible, since the history of the material is of as much importance as the determination in the 
laboratory. 

K. — localities FOR COLLECTING. 

As to the locality from which test trees are to be taken, a distinction is made into station and site. 

By station is to be understood a section of country (or any places within that section) which is characterized 
in a general way by similar climatic conditions and geological formation. "Station," then, refers to the general 
geographical situation. "Site" refers to the local conditions and surroundings within the station from which test . 
trees are selected. 

For example, the drift deposits of the Gulf Coast plain may be taken for one station; the limestone country of 
northern Alabama for a second. But a limestone formation in West-Virginia, which differs climatically, would 
necessitate another station. Within the first station a rich, moist hummock maj' furnish one site, a sandy piece of 
upland another, and a wet savannah a third. Within the second or third station a valley might furnish one site 
the top of a hill another, a different exposure may call for a third, a drift-capped ledge with deeper soil may warrant 
the selection of another. 

Choice of stations. — For each species a special selection of stations from which test iiieces are to be collected is 
necessary. These will bo determined, in each case separately as to number and location, from this office. It is 
proposed to cover the field of geographical distribution of a given species in such a manner as to take in stations 
of climatic difference and different geological horizon, neglecting, however, for the present, stations from extreme 
limits of distribution. Another factor which will determine choice is character of soil, as dependent upon geological 
formations. Stations which promise a variety of sites will be preferably chosen. 

Choice of site. — Such sites will be chosen at each station as are usually occupied by the species at any one of 
the stations. If unusual sites are found occupied by the species at any one of the stations it will be determined by 
special correspondence whether test pieces are to be collected from it. The determination of the number of sites at 
each station must be left to the, judgment of the collector alter inspection of the localities; but bei'ore determining 
the number of sites the reasons for their selection must be reported to this office. The sites are characterized and 
selected by differences of elevation, exposure, soil conditions, and forest conditions. The difference of elevation 
which may distinguish a site is provisionally set at 500 feet; that is, with elevation as the criterion for choice of 
stations the difference must be at least 500 feet. Where differences of exposure occur a site should be chosen on 
each of the exposures present, keeping as much as possible at the same elevation and under other similar conditions. 
Soil conditions may vary in a number of directions, in mineral composition, physical properties, depth, and nature 
of the subsoil. For the jiresent, only extreme differences in depth or in moisture conditions (drainage) and decided 
difference in mineral composition will bo considered in making selection of sites. 



TIMBER PHYSICS COLLECTING MATERIAL. 391 

Forest conditions refer, in the first place, to mixed or pure forest, open or close stand, and should be chosen as 
near as possible to the normal character prevailing in the region. If what, in the judgment of the collector, consti- 
tutes normal conditions are not found, the history of the forest and the points wherein it differs from normal 
conditions must be specially noted. 

C. — CHOICE OF TREES. 

On each site five trees are to be taken, one of which is to serve as "check tree." None of these trees are to be 
taken from the roadside or open field, nor from the outskirts, but all from the interior of the forest. They are to be 
representative average trees — neither the largest or best nor the smallest or worst, preferably old trees and such as 
are not overtopped by neighbors. 

The "check tree," however, should be selected with special care, and should represent the best-developed tree 
that can be found, judged by relative height and diameter development and perfect crown. 

The distance between the selected trees is to be not less than 100 feet or thereabout, yet care must be exercised 
that all are found under precisely the same conditions for which the site was chosen. 

There are also to be taken six young trees as prescribed under E. 

If to bo had within the station, select two trees from 30 to 60 years old or older, which are known to have 
grown up in the open, and two trees which are known to have grown up in the forest, but have been isolated for a 
known time of ten to twenty years. 

D. — PROCEDURE AND OUTFIT. 

The station determined upon, the collector will proceed to examine it for the selection of sites. After having 
selected the sites, he will at once communicate the selection, with description and justification, to this office, 
uegotiiite with the owners of the timber (which might be done conditionally during the first examination) for the 
purchase or donation of test trees; and the latter arrangements completed, without waiting reply from this oflice, 
he will at once proceed to collect test pieces on one of the sites in regard to the selection of which he is not in doubt. 

To properly carry out the instructions, the following assistants and outfit may be required: 

(1) Two men ' with ax and saw ; a boy also may be of use. 

(2) Team, wagon, and log trucks for moving test pieces and logs to station. 

(3) Frow or sharp hacking knife for splitting disks. Heavy mallet or medium-sized "maul" to be used with 
frow. 

(4) A handsaw. 

(5) Red chalk for marking. (A special marking hammer will be substituted.) 

(6) Tape line and 2-foot rule or calipers. 

(7) Tags (specially furnished). 

(8) Tacks (12-ounce) to fasten tags. 

(9) Wrapping paper and twine. 

(10) Franks for mailing test pieces (specially furnished). 

(11) Shipping tags for logs. 

(12) Scales, with weight i)ower not less than 30 pounds. 

(13) Barometer for ascertaining elevations. 

(14) Compass to ascertain exposures. 

(15) Spade and pick to ascertain soil conditions. 

(16) Bags for shipping disks. 

E. — METHOD OF MAKING TEST PIECES. 

(a) Mature trees. 

(1) Before felling the tree, blaze and mark the north side. 

(2) Fell tree with the saw as near the ground as iiracticable, avoiding the flare of the butt and making the 
usual kerf with the ax opposite to the saw, if possible, so as to avoid north and south side. If necessary, square 
off the butt end. 

(3) Before cutting off the butt log mark the north side on the second, third, and further log lengths. 

(4) Measure oft' and cut logs of merchantable length and diameters, beginning from the butt, noting the length 
and diameters in the record. 

Should knots or other imperfections, externally visible, occur within 8 inches of the log mark, make the cut 
lower down or higher up to avoid the imperfection. 

(.5) Continue measuring the full length of the tree and record its length. Note also distance from the ground 
and position on the tree (whether to the north, south, west, cast) of one large sound limb. Mark its lower side and 
saw it oft" close to the trunk and measure its length and record it, the limb to be utilized as described later. 

If the tree after felling prove unsound at the butt, it will be permissible to cut off as much or as little as 
necessary within the first log length. If sound timber is not found in the first log, the tree must be discarded. 
Only sound timber must be shipped. Any logs showing imperfections may be shortened. Be careful to note change 
in position of test pieces. 

(6) Mark butt end of each log with a large N on north side. Saw off squarely from the bottom end of each log 
a disk 6 inches long, and beyond the log measure cut oft" disks every 10 feet up to 2-inch diameter. Place eack disk 

1 Only men familiar with felling and cutting timber should be chosen. 



392 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



on its bottom end, and after having ascertained and marked the noitli and south line on top end. Split the disk 
with a sharp hacking knife and mallet along this line. Split from outside of the westhalf of the disk enough wood 
to leave a iirisni'l inches tliick. Split from the east half two wedges with one plane in the south-north line and with 
their wedge line tlirough the heart of the disk; the outer arc to be about 4 inches. 

Mark each piece as split off on top side with number of the tree (Arabic), the serial number (Roman) of the 
disk in the tree, beginning with No. 1 at butt log, and with a distinct N or S, the north or south position of the 
piece as in the tree. 

Write the same data on a card and tack it to the jjiece to which they belong. Whenever disk pieces are small 
enough for mailing, leave them entire. Whenever they can not be shipped by mail, leave disks entire, wrap in paper, 
and ship by express. 

(7). Weigh each piece and record weight in notebook, using the same marks as appear on the pieces. 

(8) AVrap each piece in two sheets of heavy wrapping paper and tie securely. 

(9) Marie on the newly cut bottom end of each log with a heavy pencil a north and south line, writing N on 
the north and S on the scmth side of the log, large and distinct. Also mark centrally with an Arabic number on 
each log the number of the tree in the series, and with a distiiict Roman number the serial number of the log in the 
tree, counting the butt log as first. 

Tack to the butt end of each log securely a card (centrally), on which is written name of tree, species, locality 
from which tree is taken, denoted by the letter corresponding to that used in the notebook, number of tree, and 
section. This card or tag is intended to insure a record of each log in addition to the marking already made. 

(10) Limb wood. — Having, as before noted, selected a limb, measured iind recorded its distance from the butt 
and position on the trunk, and marked its lower side and sawed it otf close to the latter, now take a disk 6 inches 
long from the butt end and others every 5 feet up to 2-iuch diameter at the top. Number these consecutively with 
Roman number, calling the butt disk No. 1. Note by letters L and U the lower and upper side, as the limb appeared 
on the tree, and place the (Arabic) number of tree from which the limb came on each. Enforce the record by cards 
containing the same information, as done in case of other disk jiieces. • 

Weigh and wrap and mail in the same ni.nnner as the other pieces. 

(11) Check trees.— From the "check tree," which is to he the very best to lie found, only three disks or three 
logs are to be secured, from the butt, middle, and top part of the tree Absolutely clear timber, free from all knots 
and blemishes, is to be chosen. The disk jjieces are to be of the same size, aud to be secured in the same manner as 
those described before ; the logs to be not necessarily more than 6 feet ; less if not enough clear timber can be found. 

Note the position of each piece 
in the tree by measuring from the butt 
cut to the butt end of the piece. 

Prepare and mark all pieces in 
the same manner as those from other 
trees, adding, however, to each piece 
a X mark to denote it as corning from 
the "check tree." 

(12) Young trees. — Select six trees 
from each site approximately of fol- 
lowing sizes: Two, C-inch diameter, 
breast high; two, 4-inch diameter, 
breast high; two, 2-inch diameter, 
breast high. Mark north and south 
sides and chop or saw all close to the 
ground and cut each tree into following lengths : First stick, 2 feet long ; second stick, 4 feet long ; the remaining 
cuts 4 feet long up to a top end diameter of about 1 inch. Cut from the basal end of each log a disk 6 inches long. 
Mark and ticket butt eud of each log as in case of large trees. Mark a north and south line on iop end of each 
disk, with N and S at extremities to denote north and south sides; and also ticket with same data as given on 
large disk pieces. Weigh and wrap as before. Of these trees only the disk pieces are to be mailed. 

F. — SHIPPING TEST PIECES. 

Ship all pieces without delay. To each log tack securely a shipping card (furnished), so as to cover the marking 
tag. The logs will go to J. B. Johnson, St. Louis, Mo. The disks aud other pieces are to be mailed to F. Roth, Ann 
Arbor, Mich., using franks, securely pasted, for mailing, unless, as noted before, they must be sent by express. 

Mail at once to the above addresses notice of each shipment, and a transcript of notes aud full description to 
this office, from which copies will be forwarded to the recipients of the test pieces. 

If free transportation is obtained from the railroad companies, special additional instructions will be given 
under this head. 

G. — RECORDS. 

Careful and accurate records are most essential to secure the success of this wort. A set of specially prepared 
record sheets will be furnished, with instructions for their use. A transcript of the record must be sent to this office 
at the time of making shipment ; also such notes as may seem desirable to complete the record and to give additional 
explanations in regard to the record and suggestions respecting the work of collecting. Original records aud notes 
must be preserved, to avoid loss iu transmission by mail. 





f5 



TIMBER PHYSICS — COLLECTING MATERIAL. 



393 



FORM OF FIELD RECORD. 
(Folder.) ' ' 

Name of collector: (Charles Mohr.) Species: Pinus palustria. 

Station (denoted by capital letter) : A. 

State: Alabama. County: Escambia. Town: Wallace. 

Longitude : 86'' 12'. Latitude : 31° 15'. Average altitude : 75 to 100 feet. 

General configuration: Plain — hilla — plateau — mountainous. General trend of valleys or bills 

Climatic features: Subtropical; mean annual temperature, 65°; mean annual rainfall, 62 inches. 
Site (denoted by small letter) : a. 

Aspect: Level — ravine — cove — bench — slope (angle approximately). 

Exposure : Elevation (above average station altitude) : 125 feet. 

Soil conditions: 

(1) Geological formation (if known) : Southern stratiiied drift. 

(2) Mineral composition: Clay — limestone — loam — marl— sandy loam— loamy sand — sand. 

(3) Surface cover: Bare — grassy — mossy. Leaf cover: Abundant — scanty — laclcing. 

(4) Depth of vegetable mold (humus) : Absent — moderate — plenty — or give depth in inches. 

(5) Grain, consistency, and admixtures: Very fine — fine — medium — coar.=e — porous — light- 

moderately loose — comxiact — binding — stones or rock, size of 



(6) Moisture conditions: Wet — moist — fresh — dry— arid — well drained — liable to overflow — swampy — near 

stream or spring or other kind of water supply 

(7) Color : Ashy-gray. 

(8) Depth to subsoil (if known) : S hallow , 3 to 4 inches to 1 foot — 1 foot to 4 feet, deep — over 4 feet, very 

deep — shifting. 

(9) Nature of subsoil (if ascertainable) : Red, ferruginous sandy loam ; moderately loose, or rather slightly 

binding; always of some degree of dampness; of great depth. 

Forest conditions: Mixed timber — pure — dense growth — moderately dense to open 

Associated species : None. 

Proportions of these 

Average height : 90 feet. ' 

Undergrowth: Scanty; in the original forest often none. 
Conditions in the open : Field — pasture — lawn — clearing (how long cleared): In natural clearings untouched 
by fire, dense groves of second growth of the species. 
Nature of soil cover (if any) : Weeds— brush — sod. 



Station: A. 



(Inside of folder.) 
Site : a. Species : P. palustris. Tkee No. 3. 



Position of tree (if any special point notable not a]ipearing in general description of site, exceptional exposure to 

light or dense position, etc., protected bj' buildings, note on back of sheet) : In ratlier dense ijosition. 
Origin of tree (if ascertainable) : Natural seedling, sprout from stump, artificial planting. 



Diameter breast high: 16 inches. 
Height to first limb : 53 feet. 
Age (annual rings on stump) : 183. 



Height of stump: 20 inches. 

Length of felled tree : 110 feet 4 inches. 

Total height : 111 feet 8 inches. 



Ko. of disk. 


Bistance 
from butt. 


"Weight of 
combined 
disk pieces. 


Eemarts. 


No. of log. 


Distance 
from butt. 


Length of 
log. 


Diameter, 
butt end. 


I 


I'eet. 

13 
19 
32 
47 
57 
67 
77 
87 
97 


Pounds. 
27 
20 
20 
18 
16 
14 
17 
14 

f 


Crown touching those 
of nearest trees to the 
N. .and NE. Open 
toward SW. 


I 

11 

HI 

IV 

V 

VI 

VII 

VIII 


Ft. In. 
8 
13 8 
19 8 
32 8 
47 8 
57 8 
67 8 
77 8 


n. In. 

12 4 
5 4 

12 4 

14 4 
9 4 
9 4 
9 4 
9 4 


Inches. 

lej 

144 
14 
134 

1 


II 




IV 


V 




VII 


viir 




X 





LlMBWOOD : 

Distance from butt : 
Number of disks taken: 



Position on trunk : 



Total length: 



Note. — As much as possible make description by underscoring terms used above. 
if necessary. 



Add other descriptive terms 



394 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



SAMPLE RECORDS OF TESTS. 



CROSS BREAKING TEST. 



(116 

Mark J 1. 
[3. 

Length, 60.0 inches. 
Height, 3.74 inches. 
Breadth, 3.75 inches, 



White pine. 



Strength of extreme fiber, 
3 Wl 
where /= „ ^ j^ = 5,660 pounds per square inch. 

Modulus of elasticity =1,320,000 pounds per square inch. 
Total resilience =3,460 inch-pounds. El. Res., 550. 

Resilience, per cubic inch ^4.11 inch-pounds. El. Res., 0.65. 



[Number annual i 



i per inch ^19.] 



July 18, 
1S91. 


Load. 


Deflection. 


Micrometer. 


Eemarks. 


h. m. 

4 24 
25 
26 
27 
28 
29 
31 
33 
35 
37 
40 


.200 
1,000 
1,600 
2,000 
2,200 
2,400 
2,600 
2,800 
3,000 
3,200 
3,300 


,042 
.211 
.300 
.454 
.511 
.595 
.690 
.853 
1.015 
1.270 
1.521 


0.757 
0.926 
1.065 
1.169 
1.226 
1.310 
1.405 
1.568 
1.730 
1.991 
2.236 




i 




^ 


Maximum load. 




Deflection, in inches. 



TIMBER PHYSICS METHODS. 



395 



CROSS BKEAKING TEST. 



Longleaf pine. 



Mark, ^3, 

I^enfiith, 60.0 inches. 
Heiylit, 3.50 inches. 
Jireaclth, 3.72 inches, 



[Number annual rings per inch := 23.] 



July 1 
20, 1891, Load. 


Deflec- 
tion. 


Micro- 
meter. 


Remarks. 


..«.! 








2 58 200 


.042 


0.958 


^rl 


3 i 1,000 


.208 


1.124 


1 1,600 


.324 


1.240 




1—7 7 -pr ] 




2 2, 000 


.404 


1.320 




'^y'y''^y 




3 , 2, 400 


.481 


1.397 




y'^ y y^y 




4 2, 800 


.558 


1.474 




/"^/O^/ 




6 3, 200 


.640 


1,556 




xXyx 




6 3, 600 


.721 


1.637 




yOyO" 












/ //// 




8 4, 400 


.926 


1.842 




9 4, 800 


1.074 


1.990 




13 1 5,180 


1.544 


2.460 


Maximum load 



Strength of extreme fiber, 
where f- 



10,230 pounds per square inch. 



■2 }) ]\r 

Modulus of elasticity ^1,760,000 pounds per square inch. 
Total resilience ^5,110 inch-pounds. El. Res., 1,780. 

Resilience, per cubic inch =6.54 inch-pounds. El. Res., 2.28. 




FINAL EECOBD OF TIMBER TESTS. 



Longleaf pine: 



Percent- 
age of 
moiatnre 



Cross bending test. 



Inches. 
60.0 



Inches. 
3.50 



Inches. 
3.72 



Pounds. 
5,180 



Inches. 
1,544 



Strength 

per 

square 

inch. (/) 



Pounds. 
10, 230 



16 3,300 1,521 5,660 1,320,000 



Modulus 
of elas- 
ticity, (e) 



Pounds. 
1, 760, 000 



Resilience 
in inch- 
pounds per 
cubic 
inch, (r) 



Crushing endwise. 



Strength 

per 

3<j.uare 

inch. 



Crushing across grain. 



Dimensions. 



Strength 

per square 

inch. 



Longleaf pine: 



"White pine : 



Sq. in. 
!■ 12.87 



I 13.91 



Pounds. 
77, 700 



Pounds. 
6,040 



Inches. 
3,73 



Sq. inch. 
\ 13. 63 



Pounds. 
10, 400 



I 14.1 



"White pine: 



Tension tests. 



Size of re- 
duced sec- 
tion. 



Breaking Strength 
isreaKing aouare 



Sq. inch. 



Pounds. 
11, 400 



Pounds. 
11, 680 



52 h 
15 / 



Shearing tests. 



Total 

shearing 

area. 

Sq. inch. 
4.14 
3.97 



Breaking Shearing 
load. strength. 



Pounds. 
2,280 



J -METAL TIES FOR RAILWAYS, AND ECONOMIES IN THE USE 

OF WOODEN TIES. 



E. E. Russell TiiAiMAN, C. E. 
Assoc. Mem. Am. iSoc. Civ. lings. — Mem. Am. Inst. Min. Engs. 



The use of metal ties as a substitute for wooden ties in railway track has been practiced in 
foreign countries for many years on a very extensive scale and with great success, but though the 
matter has been given some attention in this country, very little has been done except in the way 
of a few small experiments. This is due in part to the general, though erroneous, idea that our 
still abundant timber resources are inexhaustible; and also to the comparatively high first cost of 
metal ties (the possible future economy resulting from their use being frequently overlooked). In 
fact the matter is, on the whole, regarded with indifference. Another reason for this is, perhai)s, 
a tendency to question the application of foreign experience to American railways. There is, 
too, a wide impression that the use of metal ties in other countries is merely experimental and on 
a small scale, whereas in point of fact they have been extensively adopted for main lines carrying 
heavy trafBc, as well as for lighter lines, and they have certainly long since passed the experi- 
mental stage. Nearly 35,000 miles of track are now laid with metal ties. 

The writer has given the subject considerable attention for several years past, and in 1887 
was requested by Mr. B. E. Fernow, then chief of the Division of Forestry, to make a special 
investigation and report thereon to the Division in the interests of the preservation of the timber 
resources of the country. Three reports have since been made, forming Bulletins i^o. 3, No. 4, 
and No. 9 of the Division of Forestry. The first, in 1889, was a preliminary report of progress. 
The second and third, issued in 1890 and 1894, were comprehensive reports, giving full particulars 
of foreign practice and discussing the entire subject. In both of these reports very full details 
were given of: (1) various forms of metal ties and their fastenings, as well as of the track of 
which they form a part; (2) the character of the rolling stock and traffic; (3) the results obtained 
from their use. As there was then no comprehensive work on the subject, special attention was 
given to describing the ties, fastenings, etc., in detail. The third report (1894) had a somewhat 
wider scope and included the use of metal tie-plates and preservative processes for increasing the 
life and efficiency of wooden ties. 

On foreign railways the many improvements in shape, material, and manufacture of steel ties 
and their fastenings, and the careful investigation as to the work of maintenance, particularly 
since 1880, are now showing results in decidedly favorable estimates as to maintenance and 
renewals on railways where steel ties have been extensively and intelligently used. A large 
number of the important patents on steel ties have now expired and have no longer an influence 
on the cost of manufacture, so that the various systems can be considered purely on their merits. 
The consideration of the respective merits of metal and wooden ties is a very important matter 
in many European and other countries, where, owing to conditions of climate or to the relative 
cost of timber and steel, the use of metal ties may effect a direct financial economy as well as a 
general improvement in the track. 

The subject is, perhaps, not of such immediate interest or importance in this country, where 
timber is still comparatively plentiful. The use of protective steel tie-plates has made the cheaper 
and inferior qualities of timber largely available for railway service, while the use of i^reservative 
396 



METAL RAILWAY TIES. 397 

processes of chemical treatment Las not yet beeu developed to any great extent. N"evertlieless, 
in view of the great and steady demand for timber for railway and other purposes, and in view 
also of the steady reduction in the timber resources by legitimate consumption and various 
destructive agencies, it seems inevitable that the price of wooden ties will continue to increase. 
Such an increase in the price of timber, with a reduction in the price of steel, may introduce in 
this country conditions a])prosimatelj'^ similar to those which have led to the extensive introduction 
of steel ties in other countries. 

The relation of this questioTi to the forestry interests, however, is not the only one to be 
considered. In many instances the use of metal ties may effect a decided improvement in the 
track and an economy in the expenses for track maintenaTice. In fact there are probably many 
places in this country now where metal ties might be used with advantage. For these reasons 
therefore it may be said that it will be well for progressive railway men to begin to consider the 
conditions under which metal ties have been used abroad and the results of experience with these 
ties, with a view to the jiossibilities of their introduction upon American railways. 

In discussions upon tlie metaltie question two extreme arguments are frequently put forward. 
One of these is to the effect that the use of such ties is merely a fad and an unsuccessful exi:)eri- 
ment, while the other is to the effect that metal ties are essential for a safe and substantial track. 
The abandonment of some experiments on tlie Pennsylvania Eailroad a few years ago was made 
the basis of conclusions, which were widely circulated, to the effect that metal ties as a whole were 
a complete failure. Asa matter of fact the very limited trials on that road and the styles of ties 
used did not warrant any general conclusions; on the other hand, legislative action to compel the 
use of metal ties has even been advocated. 

The introduction of good metal ties, however, is a matter of development and not of arbitrary 
action; of evolution rather than of revolution. It must be remembered also that while innumer- 
able forms and modifications of metal ties have been devised only a very limited proportion of 
these are such as to warrant trial, while the ties which have been most extensively and successfully 
used comprise but a very few general types. Among the 750 patents taken out in this country 
and recorded in my reports very few are at all practicable or show 'any qualifications on the part 
of the inventor for designing such an article as a railway tie. The same remarks apply to the 
fastenings of the rails to metal ties. 

The necessity for economy in the use of our timber resources is due to the fact that the con- 
sumption Las for a long time been excessive as compared with reproduction, and that ties are 
largely obtained from young trees, thereby reducing the supplies needful for the future. Taking 
the low average of 2,,5()0 ties per mile, the i'lr(),0()0 miles of railway track represent 000,000,000 ties 
in service. The average life is but seven years, and renewals require at least 85,000,000 ties per 
annum, while about 7,500,000 are required for new construction. The 16,500 miles of street railway 
represent about 33,000,000 ties, and require about 4,000,000 per year for renewals and 2,500,000 for 
new construction. This gives a total annual consumption of about 100,000,000 ties, equivalent to 
500,000,000 cubic feet of forest timber. 

A very serious matter is that the proper consumption of timber represents but a part of the 
total amount of standing timber removed. The constant troubles from reckless and wasteful 
methods of cutting, the wLolesale illegal cutting of timber on Government and i)rivate lands, and 
the destruction due to forest fires, sheep herding, etc., point to the necessity of protecting the 
timber resources and economizing in the use of timber. The treatment of these resources in other 
countries as a source of revenue to the government, by placing them in charge of skilled men 
under a government department, has been so markedly successful that I have been impelled to 
strongly support the movement in favor of a similar system of forest regulation and administration 
by the Government of the United States. 

Apart from the desirability of obtaining a substitute for wooden ties, in the interests of forest 
preservation, there is another verjr important point, and one which is really of moi-e direct 
importance to American railways. This is the reduction in annual renewals of ties, due to the 
longer life of metal ties, and this again eftects a consequent reduction in labor expenses. It also 
results in a better and more permanent condition of the track, due to the less frequent disturbance 
of the ballast and roadbed. The general experience is that while the expense of maintenance of 
track with metal ties is at first equal to, or even greater than, that for track with wooden ties. 



398 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



yet that after three or four years the cost becomes rapidly less, while for wooden ties the expense 
increases year by year nntil renewals are necessary. 

As a result of the investigations, the following general conclusions may be pi'esented: 

First. Metal ties are used very extensively, and their use is being continually extended. 

Second. While different results are reported, the experience is usually favorable, particularly 
where well-designed ties have been used. 

Third. The introduction of metal ties effects an appreciable economy in timber, and may lead 
to an important development of the iron and steel industries. 

Fourth. Among the advantages of metal ties over wooden ties the following may be noted: 

(a) Eeductiou in the annual consumption of timber. 

(b) Greater length of life, with consequent saving in renewal expenses, and a general economy 
in track work. 

(c) Maintaining a better and more uniform track for a longer time and with less worlt uiion 
the track. 

(d) Reduced expenses for maintenance and renewals, owing to the greater durability of 
the track. 

(e) Increased safety, owing to the more efficient fastenings and the more permanent character 
of the ties. 

In view of the durability of the track and the economy in track work which result from the 
use of an efficient system of metal ties, it would seem thai there are already many special locations 
in this country where such ties might now be used with financial and ijractical advantage. This 
is particularly the case on busy main lines near large cities and terminals, where the continued 
traffic not only makes constant work necessary, but makes it difficult and expensive to carry on 
the work. 

For street railway track metal ties are particularly well adapted. They are extensively used 
for this purpose abroad, and in this country they are used much more for such track than for 
steam-railway track. 

The following tabular summary, which is condensed from tables given in my report of 1894, 
shows what an important extent of the railway's throughout the world is laid with metal ties. 
Such ties were then in use on 35,000 miles of track, or nearly 10 per cent of the total railway 
mileage, or on nearly 20 per cent, if we exclude the mileage of the United States and Canada, 
whose railways have but an infinitesimal iiercentage of metal track. At the present time the 
percentage is probably about the same or even somewhat higher, the use of metal ties having 
increased more rapidly than the construction of new railways. 

Statistics of metal track. 
SECTION NO. 1.— EUEOPE. 



England . 
France . . . 
Holland . . 
Belgium . 



Miles. 

73 

128 

322 

176 

Germany 11,605 

216} 

12 

480 

264 

1 



Austria and Hungary. 

Bosnia 

Switzerland 

Spain 

Portugal 



Sweden and Norway. 

Denmark 

Russia 

Turkey ( Europe ) 

Turkey (Asia) 

Greece 



18 
9 
71 
309 
28 



Total metal track 13,404 

Total track 137,000 



SECTION NO. 2.— AFEICA. 



Egypt 

Algeria 

Abyssinia 

Sudan 

Senegal 

Kongo ( Portuguese ) . . . 
Kongo (Free State) ... 
South African Republic 



164 
14 
2 
30 
5 
64 
115 



Soutli Africa (Portuguese). 

Cape Colony 

East Coast 

Reunion 



906 

125 

62 



Total metal track 2,401 

Total track 5, 675 



METAL RAILWAY TIES. 

Statistics of metal track — Continued. 
SECTION NO. 3.— AUSTRALASIA. 



399 



Queensland 

South Australia. 



Miles. 
82 
152 



Total metal track 234 

Total track (7 colonies) 12,000 

SECTION NO. 4.— ASIA. 



British India - 13,655 

Sumatra 90 

Java 500 

Straits Settlements 25 

China 2 



Japan 

Asia Minor. 



Total metal track 14,586 

Total track 22,000 



tine Republic 3,638 

Chile 1 

Brazil 135 

Venezuela 218 

Westlndies 204 



SECTION NO. 5.— SOUTH AMERICA, ETC. 
Mexico 



Total metal track 4,416 

Total track 21,500 



SECTION NO. 6.— NOETH AMERICA. 



United States. 
Canada 



Total metal track 12 

Total track (United States and Canada) 190,000 

Pei'centage of metal track mileage. 



Section No. 1. 
Section No. 2. 
Section No. 3. 
Section No. 4. 
Section No. 5. 
Section No. G. 

Total . . 



Miles. 
13, 404 
2, 326 



34, 863 



Miles. 
137, 000 
5,600 
12, 000 
22, COD 
21, 500 
100, 000 



388, 100 



Total mileage of railways with metal track miles.. 34,863 

Total mileage of railways of the world (exclusive of United States and 

Canada) miles.. 198,000 

Percentage of railways with metal track (exclusive of United States and 

Canada) percent.. 17.6 

It is not necessary in this general review of the subject to go into the details of the practice 
and experience of foreign railways, as such details have been given very fully in the reports 
already referred to. As the latest examples of this experience, however, it will be of interest to 
present some particulars from reports recently made by Mr. Renson, resident engineer of the 
Netherlands State railways (Holland), and Mr. Sclirafl, engineer of the Gotthard Eailway 
(Switzerland). On both of these lines metal ties have been in use for several years, and have been 
improved upon from time to time in the light of practical experience, while very careful investi- 
gations have been made as to their efiiciency and economy. 

On the Netherlands State railways the first metal ties were laid in 1865, and are still in good 
condition. They are, in fact, expected to last from three to eight years more. In 1880, however, 
Mr. J. W. Post was commissioned to make an investigation of the subject. This resulted in a 
series of extensive and practical tests on main lines, the design of the ties being modified and 
improved from time to time. The first ties of this series (1881) were the lightest and least 
successful, but they lasted longer than good oak ties, while the annual charge for their renewal 
was only half that for the oak ties. The maintenance expenses were higher, but, on allowing for 



400 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

the diff'ereuce in the reuewal charges, there was actually a balance of about $43 per mile of track 
per year in favor of the metal ties. With the later forms of ties the maintenance expenses were 
steadily reduced, and with the latest forms now in use these expenses are lesis than for oak ties, 
Kusting and wear of tbe bolt holes have been insignificant, and it has been found that, by inserting 
renewable tie plates between the rail and the tie, the life of the latter can be extended almost 
indefinitely. The results of the seventeen years' experience have been entirely satisfactory, and 
Mr. Eenson closes his report with the following statement: 

I am glad to state that the result of our seventeen years' work fully confirms the favorable oi^inion of many 
engineers who have specially studied the metal-track question, particularly Messrs. Ch. Bricka, J. W. Post, A. M. 
Kowalski, E. E. Russell Tratmau, Ch. Lebon, and Diotler. Our results quite agree also with the favorable results 
on some of those railways on which the question has been investigated extensively and with perseverance, by giving 
different systems a fair trial, uninfluenced by preconceived ideas. 

On the Gotthard Eailway metal ties have been in use since 1882, and the experience with them 
has been such as to lead the road to introduce them very extensively. They now represent 70 per 
cent of the ties in main track and 39 per cent of those on sidings, or 05 per cent for the entire line. 
The cost at the present time is f 1.72 per tie, as against $1.20 for oak. If the fastenings are 
included, the costs are $1.96 and $1.61 respectively. Adding the cost of laying, however, and then 
deducting the value of the old material, the net result shows only $1.60 for the steel tie, as 
compared with $1.66 for the oak tie. For the first year or two the expenses for ordinary main- 
tenance of track are about the same for both steel and Avoodeu ties, but after that period the 
expenses become materially lower for the metal track. 

This railway has 43 per cent of its length on curves and has grades of 2.7 per cent, while the 
traffic is heavy and includes express trains running at 40 to 53 miles per hour. In the numerous 
long tunnels the ties are subject to rust, and last only eight to ten years, which is about the same 
life as that of the oak ties. Elsewhere, however, the rusting and wear of the ties are so slight 
that the ties are expected to last as long as the rails. The general result, in point of durability, 
is that the steel ties have proved to be more economical than the oak ties. The report further 
states that even if they were less economical, the railway would still feel obliged to use the steel 
ties ou account of the greater safety and security of the track. 

One other case may be cited as an examj)le of the common use of metal ties on foreign railways. 
During the years 1895-1898, about 160 miles of metal track on the Wnrttemberg State railways 
were renewed at a reported cost of about $1,750,000, in order to provide for increased weight and 
amount of traffic. The old track consisted of 60-pouiid rails, 29 feet 6 inches long, with 10 or 12 ties 
per rail, the ties weighing 114 pounds each, and being spaced 30 and 36 inches center to center. 
The new track consists of 87 pound rails, 39 feet 4 inches long, with 16 or 1 7 ties per rail, the weight 
of the ties being 155 pounds, and the spacing 28 and 30 inches. The old track weighed 266 to 278 
pounds per yard, while the new track weighs 408 to 422 i)ouuds per yard. 

This report would not be complete without some reference to means of eflecting economies in 
the use of wooden ties, as thisis amatter of immediate importance to American railways. Wooden 
ties will undoubtedly continue to be generally used in this country for many years to come, and it is 
important that railway officers should without delay give attention to the advantages of increasing 
the efficiency and economy of such ties by protecting them from decay and wear. The use of 
preservative processes to prevent decay and the use of protective metal tie plates to prevent wear 
and disintegration under the rails may be made to effect a marked economy in the track work by 
increasing the life of the ties, reducing the expense of renewals, and enabling the cheaper and 
inferior timbers to be effectively used for ties. The ties so treated and protected also make a better 
track and one which requires less work for maintenance. 

The renewing of ties is too often considered as a comparatively unimportant item in the 
maintenance expenses, but in point of fact the average cost of tie renewals very frequently 
exceeds that of rail renewals, and the cost also has a continual tendency to increase. The cost 
may often be materially reduced bj^ careful methods of checking to prevent the premature removal 
of comxiaratively sound ties and by the more general use of preservative treatment and metal tie 
plates. It must be remembered that a road which has to renew its ties in six years is at a great 
disadvantage as compared with another whose ties last twelve years. The former must figure into 



METAL RAILWAY TIES. 401 

its expense account almost double the cost for material, besides tlie additional track labor required 
to do the work, while during the interval it can not have as good a track as the latter. 

Although the practical ecouomies resulting from the use of preservative processes have been 
amply proved, both in this country and abroad, and although such processes are very extensively 
employed abroad, they have been but iuditt'erently regarded here by railway officers, with some 
important exceptions.- The economy results not only from the increased life of the ties and the 
possibility of making cheaper and inferior timber give as good service as the higher grades of 
timber, but also from the reduced labor and cost of maintenance and the improved surface of 
track due to reduction in tie renewals. Under ordinary conditions the track has hardly been got 
into good surface ou a settled roadbed before it is disturbed again by renewing ties. In view of 
these facts, and of the further fact that so many important railways are now spending enormous 
sums of money in the improvement of their lines, it is strange that so few railways have taken up 
this matter on a large scale. 

One of the most important and practical of modern improvemeuts in American railway track 
has been the wide iutroduction of metal tie plates, which are placed between the rail and the tie. 
Their pur^jose is to prevent tlie cutting and wearing of the tie, which frequently necessitate the 
removal of sound ties from the track. The small cost of these plates and the undoubted advan- 
tages which they insure iu economy in ties aud in track work have led to their use on many 
hundreds of miles of track. They not ouly lengthen the life of the ties, but also give a better and 
more permanent bearing for the rails. Similar plates, but of much heavier construction and 
secured by bolts or spikes, have for many years been used in Europe. The special feature of the 
small and light American plates is that they have ribs or points which are i^ressed iuto the wood, 
so that the plate becomes practically a part of the tie, independent of the rail fastenings. 

The greatest economy in track with wooden ties will in general be insured by protecting the 
ties from decay by means of a chemical treatment, and protecting them from abrasion or wear by 
means of the application of metal tie plates. 

In conclusion, two statements may be presented, based upon the information given in my 
reports and upon the present review of the situation. 

First. The advantages and economies resulting from the use of metal ties are such as to make 
it advisable to consider their application to American railways (iu special cases, at least) in the 
near future. 

Second. The advantages and economies which may be obtained by the application of tie 
plates and preservative processes to wooden ties are so great that the use of such methods should 
be considered as a matter of immediate importance. 

H. Doc. 181 26 

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